Ray's Trip - Part 3. Ray has Two Mommies

Every day Ray and I would walk to John's and Yuko's so that I could turn Ray loose. Every day I would dig up Ray's bone and every day Ray would plant it somewhere different. Yuko's vegetable seedlings were taking a beating. Ray would wander and Yuko would yell, "Not there, Ray! That's turnips!" or "Not there, Ray! That's spinach!"

Every day Hannah would come outside and Ray would go crazy. As soon as he would calm down and start to ignore her, Hannah would start to singsong "Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray Ray." Ray would then go to her and try to lick her face and eat her hair. Hannah would spritz him and he would flop for a belly rub. 

Ray and Hannah

Every day Hannah and Yuko would visit us at Mom and Dad's. Hannah would play tug-of-war with Ray and we would all wait for someone to get hurt. But no one ever did. We would all loiter around the kitchen and Ray would try to snarf everyone's food or sip their coffee. We were having a really good time.

Cousins

On Saturday Mom woke up with a cold so she stayed in bed. Dad and I spent the morning installing a new shower head in the bathroom. We finished up just in time for me to head over to John's to meet Amber, Ray's foster mom, who was driving in from Columbia.

I was nervous. I thought maybe Amber would want Ray back and I wouldn't be able to say no because I knew that Ray would love to be with his old friends. I knew that, if I were Amber, I would want to have a great dog like Ray back. Even though there was no way to do it, I was trying to prepare myself to give Ray up if I had to.

Amber arrived right on time. Ray was beside himself with joy. We couldn't tell if it was because he remembered Amber, or if it was because Ray is ALWAYS beside himself with joy whenever he meets anyone.
Amber and I sat on the patio and chatted while Ray flopped in the yard sunning himself. Yuko, who was puttering around in her garden,  came to sit with us. Amber laughed at something that was said, when, all of a sudden, Ray's head came up and he 'looked' in our direction. He leapt to his feet and ran to Amber, licking her and jumping on her. It was like a lightbulb had gone off over his head, an "I remember NOW!" moment. Then he moseyed on back to the yard and the sun.
Before Amber left, she kissed Ray on his kissing knob (the knob on top of his head. I told Hannah it was good luck to kiss Ray on his kissing knob. She's all set for the rest of her life), and told him goodbye. After I closed the gate, Ray stood with his nose pressed against the wooden fence. I could feel the tears pricking against my eyelids.

 Bye mom, I miss you.