For the first time in years, my wife and I have had a youngster staying with us.
Arlo quickly made his presence known. He also let us know right away who was going to be in charge the next couple of weeks when our son, Colin, and his new wife, Olivia, dropped him off as they headed off on their honeymoon.
The Australian shepherd-Great Pyrenees mix, which my wife lovingly refers to as our “granddog,” is actually just a great big baby in my mind even though he’s nearly three years old now.
And by the way, she drops the “lovingly” off in the mornings and changes it to words I can’t publish when the 70-plus-pounder has kept her awake all night jumping in and out of bed and barking at imaginary bad guys outside — or as my son calls it “protecting us.”
I have to constantly remind him that he is no longer in the big city and we don’t have a lot of bad guys in Ewing.
We’ve have had to make some adjustments to our schedule, including taking him out for walks and waking up in the middle of the night when he decides there’s something going on outside that should not be happening. Or he just wants to stretch and find another place to plop down.
His presence reminds us a lot of our last dog, Gizmo, which we had to put to sleep a couple of years ago.
Arlo also reminds us, however, of the vow we took when we lost Gizmo. No more dogs until one or both of us is retired.
Although they make great companions, dogs also require a lot of work, just like a good marriage.
Speaking of marriage, Colin and Olivia’s wedding was held at one of those new-fangled event centers in Franklin. It was one of those fancy affairs complete with a catered meal, Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert, a string quartet for the wedding and a DJ for the reception, some pretty flowers and nicely decorated tables, beer and wine and of course, a photographer to record everything and everyone.
Back in the day, we didn’t have “event centers.” We had the armory at Freeman Field.
It seems as if Colin and Olivia had been planning their wedding for years, although I think the real planning, which included finding Arlo and their other two dogs, Odin and Ariel, homes while they were on their honeymoon started about a year ago.
Several months into the planning process, I made the mistake of asking Colin how much they thought the price tag for the affair would be. His answer? “$25,000 and counting.”
What a jaw-dropping number, especially when I think back to days when his mother and I were married. Don’t ask me the date because I always mess that one up. But I can remember the year — 1988. I think.
I know that $25,000 for a nice wedding isn’t really that much these days when it comes to that special day for a lot of people, but my home didn’t cost a whole lot more than that. But when I hear about a wedding costing $100,000 or even more, I cringe because at that price, it better be a really, really, really great wedding.
Besides the date I was married, I apparently can remember more about my wedding than my wife because she couldn’t tell me anything about the cost of the food we served, the entertainment (we had a DJ) or much else about the affair for that matter.
Men have always been told the wedding is the most important day in a girl’s life, but apparently, time erases a lot of memories for women of their wedding day or at least it has for my wife.
Arlo’s visit also has left us with another quandary because I’m pretty sure he said the other day that he wants to live in Brownstown from now on.
Aubrey Woods is editor of The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].