I never imagined I would be a dog mom! When our middle school aged son Joshua started pestering us to get a dog, he very quickly persuaded Mom, Dad, and especially his older brother. Before long, a 7-week old Miniature Golden Retriever suddenly arrived home all the way from Montana via airplane with his own cool name: Reebo. In many ways, Reebo changed our whole family’s way of living. Joshua really treated him like a little brother and would spend time playing with him every day, as well as taking responsibility for brushing Reebo’s teeth and trimming his nails. He also taught Reebo to “play basketball.”He’s the most attentive and would be first to notice anything abnormal on his little fur brother’s body. To be close to Reebo, he was willing to move to sleeping on the sofa. To keep from disturbing Reebo’s sleep, he would chase us out of the living room extremely early in the evening. I was originally worried Joshua would get distracted from focusing on things that mattered and fall behind, but thinking about it now, I see that I was just worrying too much. Due to the pandemic in the past three years, in our lives of not going outside, Reebo became his best companion. As they grew up with their love for each other, the “teenager” problems we had worried about actually never appeared. He matured into a kind-hearted, loving, responsible young man. For my husband and me, the biggest change was that having Reebo gave us a sense of community. Walking the dog two times a day every day, even during the pandemic, made us get to know a few of the people who live nearby, and from them we learned a lot about this neighborhood’s history, and how it reflected the past few decades of change in the United States. By knowing what was going on in this neighborhood every day, I came to understand quite a bit about American culture and different immigrant cultures. I cared for the people I saw every day, especially the older people. If there was a day when I didn’t see them, I would get worried about whether or not they were OK, and I would silently pray for them. Language differences make it hard for us to communicate with non-Chinese-speakers. While we may not have very deep discussions, we all take care of each other and share experiences and information related to taking care of dogs. And, hey, our English is also improving! Naturally we also met quite a few of the Chinese people in our neighborhood and became friends with them. I never could have imagined any of this before Reebo. Our whole family just celebrated Reebo’s 4th birthday, thanking him for bringing us so much happiness. This year Joshua is going to start college, and it’s possible that in the next few years he won’t be able to celebrate Reebo’s birthday in person. But, Reebo will be like a kite string keeping him tied to home. Later on, we’ll count on Reebo if we want to see our son more, haha!

刚上高中的儿子Joshua开始纠缠着我们养一只狗，很快他说服了奶奶，爸爸，哥哥更是力挺，不久一只7周大的小金毛（Miniature Golden Retriever）就从遥远的Montana 空运到家，有了自己的酷名字 Reebo。

Reebo在很多方面改变了我们全家的生活方式，

Joshua真正把它当弟弟对待，每天会花时间和Reebo在一起玩，负责给Reebo 刷牙和trim指甲，也教会了Reebo“打篮球”。他最是心细，会首先发现毛弟弟身体上的异常。为了靠近Reebo他愿意搬到沙发上睡觉；为了不影响Reebo的睡眠他会早早就把我们从客厅里赶走。原本担心Joshua会玩物丧志，不思进取，现在想起来真是多虑。近3年由于疫情，在大门不出二门不迈的生活里Reebo成为他的最好的陪伴，在互相给与的爱里成长，居然没有出现我们耽心的teenager的问题，出落成一个心地善良，懂得爱，负责任的年轻人。

对于老公和我，最大的改变是让我们有了社区意识。每天2次遛狗，即使在疫情期间也没中断，让我们结识了一些住在附近的人们，从他们那里知道了很多这个社区里的历史，从而折射出美国近几十年的变迁； 知道每天这个社区的事件，了解到不少美国以及不同民族的文化；牵挂每天见到的人，尤其是老人。如果哪天没见到他们就会担心他们是否平安，会默默地为他们祈福。语言是我们和外国人交流的障碍，虽然交流得没那么深但是大家彼此关照，交流照顾狗狗的经验和信息，英语也有长进啊。自然也认识不少这个社区里的中国人，成为朋友，这一切在有Reebo 之前是不能想象的。

全家刚刚给Reebo过了4岁生日，感谢它给我们带来的快乐。今年Joshua就要上大学了，有可能未来的几年他没办法亲自为Reebo过生日了，但是Reebo会是那个风筝的线，以后想多见儿子就靠它了，哈哈！