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Man, Dog, Boat
From Chicken Soup for the Soul: Me and My Dog
By Elizabeth Atwater
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
~John Barrymore
I stood at the kitchen window watching Papa as he sat in the old, aluminum lawn chair staring out at the lake. Ralph, his old black dog, lay on the ground at his side, his eyes following Papa’s gaze. Papa’s hand absently stroked the head of his old companion as they dreamed the dreams of old men and old dogs in the evening sun. “He does this day after day?” I said to Mama.
She nodded, sadness filling her eyes as she looked to me for answers that I didn’t have. “I don’t know what to do for him. There is a longing in his eyes that I can’t fulfill. A longing for the past.” She sighed. “The past can’t be brought back to the present. Once days are gone, they are gone forever.”
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