Politics & Old Dogs

At the end of Ken Ulman’s fundraiser last night I chatted briefly with Delegate Guy Guzzone and his wife Pam. Guy was the emcee for Ken’s gathering and his remarks were notable for their brevity.

“The best speech in history was only 265 words,” he observed.

Indeed, and it was written by a Repub to boot.

I don’t think Guy even used that many words. I took the occasion to probe him a little about his future political plans to which he was predictably coy. Then I turned to Pam and asked what she would like to see him do.

“I’d like to see him become county executive,” she said without the slightest bit of doubt or hesitation.

I like her. Pam works in organizational development at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, not quite a rocket scientist but you don’t really need to be one to understand the HoCo loco politico scene.

It was also an evening about old dogs, another subject near and dear to my heart. I was catching up with Ian Kennedy when he shared with me that his dog, a Husky named Atticus, is not doing well. “He has good days and bad days,” Ian said, “he still has the spirit of a young dog though some days he has difficulty just standing up.”

Ian knows it is only a matter of time before he has to say goodbye to his loyal friend and dreads the inevitable. It couldn’t come at a worse time either, with a new baby due in a matter of weeks. Joy and sadness at the same time seems so unfair. I felt for him.

I also spent time with HoCo loco energy guru Bert Wilson. Bert is the Managing Member of Castlebridge Energy Group. His wife Suzanne and her partner Tee run The Olbadi Inn in Ellicott City. Bert has a 12 year old dog at home with doggie diabetes. He showed me a picture of Buster on his phone. He told me that he had to get home to give Buster his insulin shot.

Bert wonders if Buster will it make it through the holidays.

When I got home I saw facebook posting from Mickey Gomez about the passing of her dog, Indy. She wrote a warm tribute to her old friend on her blog. Fair warning, if you love dogs you’ll have a hard time keeping your tear ducts in check.

And since this is Veterans Day, I offer this Veterans Day dog story by Steve Hendrix in The Washington Post. Just one day after rescuing a batch of puppies in Iraq, Army Specialist Justin Rollins was killed by roadside bomb. In one of the last photos taken of Justin he was cradling one of the puppies.

“When his flag-draped transfer case arrived at an airfield in New Hampshire, an Army general asked the family members if there was anything he could do for them.

As a matter of fact, there was.

“I want one of those puppies,” Rhonda answered immediately.”

The story of how Hero made it home is about as good a tribute to vets and the dogs they love as I could find.

To all the vets who stop by here, thank you for your service.