On my tenth birthday, my mom asked my dad to “go for a ride in the country”. He soon realized this was a strategically planned ride to get him to drive us to the puppy farm, where I would get a surprise birthday present!  We got there and I was elated.  With so many puppies to choose from, all barking and nipping at my shoelaces, I naturally went for the runt; the one in the corner with the cute little face and the big paws, sitting pretty watching the others annoy me.  He looked so regal, like a little lion, so I called him Symba.

Symba at 7 wks, looking like an angel

Little did I know what I’d be getting myself into.  I basically spent 10 years dealing with the same issues talked about in the new movie Marley&Me.  I mean, I knew the movie was about a problem dog but seriously, the couch chewing, the barking, the baseball-bat-of-a-tail knocking everything off the coffee table, the constant runaways and the dog dragging you down the street felt all too familiar. LOL!   I remember one of the rules was Symba was not allowed on my mothers Red Velvet Loveseat and he knew the rules, but one day we got home and he was on the loveseat.  He looked so guilty and didn’t move, just stared at us until after we snapped a pic:

Symba aka Marley by this point...lol

Marley&Me was a funny, easygoing movie, perfect for Christmas Day viewing, but if I had seen it as a teen when Symba was still alive, (there were plenty of kids in the theatre) I would have walked out of that theatre devastated having felt the emotion of watching Marley depart.  

RIP lil Symba….mama lowes you