"The Divinity of Dogs"

Today, a friend sent me a link to a video from CBS News Sunday Morning that was an opinion piece by Ben Stein. It's called "The Divinity of Dogs." I'm not really sure why he titled it that way, because he doesn't say much about divinity per se, but it's a great piece. Mr. Stein talks about how dogs can help us through some of the challenges that life hands us, including financial hardship, betrayal and loneliness, even a terminal illness. He mentions a dear friend who died of Alzheimer's Disease whose last words were, "Where's my dog?" That really touched me, coming from a hospice background. I know for a fact that terminally ill patients with Alzheimer's usually haven't spoken for a while and when they do, they don't make much sense. There are, however, tiny moments of grace, when it's almost like a window opens into their illness for a brief moment and they remember things and people and places...it's truly a blessing for family members when these times occur. If you've seen the movie, "The Notebook" you will see an example of that phenomenon. Mr. Stein says that this man's dog was his best friend, even throughout his illness. He's right about one thing. Dogs hang in there with us no matter what happens. Even Alzheimer's Disease. Here's the link to the segment on You Tube, if you are interested.