He's So Pupular

Today, as I drove my 8-year-old son to school, Sunny rode along—in his usual privileged position, perched on my lap, head thrust out of the window, enjoying the breeze. Other than getting treats or going for a walk, this is his favorite part of the day. He loves all the activity--watching the kids scurrying to school, seeing the occasional familiar face in the crowd.

Today he hit the doggie jackpot.

We were running late, so I committed a major carpool sin and pulled around to the back of the school, where there is basically no traffic, and I idled briefly to let my son out at the crosswalk, prepared to zip off and out of the way the moment he crossed the street.

Luckily for Sunny, another mom was running late, too—Auntie Ann, our good friend, neighbor, and most importantly, beloved keeper and cherisher of the dog whenever we go on vacation. Ann pulled up beside me, rolled down her window, smiled her gorgeous Homecoming Queen smile, and exclaimed, “Hi Sunny!” (I’m just his driver.)

By Sunny’s reaction you would have sworn that Santa Claus himself was sitting in the car next to us with a big sack of chicken treats and beef bones. He leaped over to the passenger side and lunged half of his furiously tail-wagging body out of the window, wild with happiness. Sunny does something that I have never seen (or heard) a dog do before—he literally cries with joy when he sees someone he loves. He whimpers like he’s in pain. The first time he did this, Ann thought she had stepped on him when she walked in the door. No, that’s not a broken paw, he’s just happy to see you. Really, really, really happy to see you.

Ann’s carload of kids swarmed out of her Suburban, and even though the bell had already rung and they were all late, each and every child stopped by the window of our car to give Sunny a vigorous pet and receive a warm, wet lick of a greeting in return. And they were all smiling, looking back and waving as they ran to their classes.

I get such a kick out of seeing how much Sunny loves certain people and how much they love him back. And how can they help it? When some living being cries with joy at the mere sight of you, jumping and beaming and panting for your attention, how could you help but be charmed?





I am reminded of something I once read in some self-help, motivational book: That if you want to be popular, you shouldn’t worry about how you look or what you wear or even making sparkling conversation. The real secret to popularity is not how fabulous you are, but how you make people feel about themselves when they are with you.

And to think, Sunny never even read that book.