Our puppy is like our child, so today I told Lola the story of how I met her mother.

She was very curious for the first part of the tale. Lola sat straight up and gazed into my eyes while I talked about meeting my future wife in college. Her eyes bugged out a little, she was so into the part about our trip to Florida. She didn't even flinch when I explained how I was spurned afterwards. I guess she wasn't concerned because she knows that it turns out well in the end.

Lola lost interest when I started talking about other girls that I dated in the meantime. She settled down and stretched out on the floor. I think she was still listening to my voice, though. I have been told that I'm a very compelling storyteller. So I talked about romantic rivals and the turning-point in Japan and how we started dating again when I got back to the States.

At that point, I couldn't tell if my dog was paying attention to the story any more. She didn't even look up when I got to the big scene in the Walmart liquor deparment. But I was really getting into it by then, so I recounted the rest of our dating days, all the way up to the proposal with the cupcakes spelling out "will you marry me?" Still no reaction.

"Would you like a cupcake, Lola?" I said. That got her attention. Then she went back to sleep.