This message is not a story about a dog. It’s about you and I.

If you read this and feel the urge to write and tell me about your dog, then you missed the point. My dog Ricky is old. He can’t do what he used to do. Not that he has forgotten, he just doesn’t have the interest.

I carry him down the stairs now. It’s easier that way because he stands at the top of the stairs and looks down. Sometimes he takes one step and with my urging, another.

It’s not that he’s forgotten how to walk down the steps. He just doesn’t think he can now. Stairs that were once a quick and easy exit to the yard now appear to be an impossible dream.

He walks up the stairs. He does it with great hesitation. I watch him from behind because sometimes he stops in the middle and can’t get started again.

Sometimes, before he takes the first step up, he rocks back and forth making the motion of forward progress over and over.

Now, stop thinking that this is a message about ...