Marley and Me

I've been re-reading the book, Marley and Me by John Grogan, about a couple starting their lives together with an extremely crazy, hyper but lovable, loyal dog. It was even made into a movie a while back with Jennifer Aniston.

There are so many good quotes from this book that I wanted to jot down to remember (SPOILERS):

Pg. 226 " Marley had earned his place in our family. Like a quirky but beloved uncle, he was what he was. He would never be Lassie or Benji or Old Yeller; he would never reach Westminister or even the county fair. We knew that now. We accepted him for the dog he was, and loved him all the more for it...Our goal, the cemetary, was still a steep climb ahead. But just as in life, I was figuring out, the destination was less important than the journey. I dropped to one knee, running my hands down his sides, and said, "Let's just sit here for a while." When he was ready, we turned back down the hill and poked our way home." 

Pg. 279 " Was it possible for a dog- any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours- to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water-logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. As I wrote that farewell column to Marley, I realized it was all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see. 

Pg. 287 "He came into our lives just as we were trying to figure out what they would become. He joined us as we grappled with what every couple must eventually confront, the sometimes painful process of forging two distinct pasts into one shared future...Despite everything, all the disappointments and unmet expectations, Marley had given us a gift, at once priceless and free. He taught us the art of unqualified love. How to give it, how to accept it. Where there is that, most of the other pieces fall into place."