Serve by Design

“The sincerest form of flattery is imitation!” This observation is widely credited to Oscar Wilde, the popular 19 th century poet and playwright. However, there are similar but sarcastic statements that date a hundred years earlier such as: “Imitation is kind of artless flattery” or “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” I prefer the Wilde expression over the other two for sure! My Mini-Me! I have known for a long time that children watch adults in their lives and often mimic their behavior. I did this when I was a child! I wanted to wear a ball cap, have a toothpick in my mouth and cover my hands with inexpensive brown Jersey gloves like my dad. I was surprised recently during a family visit to see that my six-year-old granddaughter, Klaire, was imitating me. When I am in a “crowd situation” at family gatherings I like to mark my glass when there are so many drinking glasses it is nearly impossible to keep track of who’s glass belongs ...

During our recent visit with our family in Albuquerque, we got an opportunity to get further acquainted with two new family members. Our precious grand daughter, Klaire, had her 2nd birthday during our visit. We were extremely excited to "love on her" and her two older brothers. But the newest of family members was Sophie Grace, a nine-month old hyper bred "Mini Golden Doodle!" She is a combination of a Golden Retriever and miniature French Poodle. She reminded Monique and me of our Freddie who graced our family with ten years of good and not-so-good memories. Old Fred was a "Cock-a-Poodle" (Cocker Spaniel and French Poodle). He was a little "high-strung" too! On the first full day of our visit, Melissa, our daughter, put us in charge of the pup! She and the kids went off to their day at school and left the "old folks" to dog-sit the Sophie. She followed me everywhere and shadowed me unrelentingly! It was fortuitous for both of u...