My kids and I were driving across the Nevada desert some years ago. We stopped for gas well after dark. While I filled the tank, I noticed an abandoned dog--filthy and cowering--sidling up to us. "Stay in the truck," I told the kids. But when I came out after paying the bill, the kids were on either side of the dog and there were three pairs of pleading eyes looking up at me.

“The people we most love do become a physical part of us, ingrained in our synapses, in the pathways where memories are created.” - Meghan O'Rourke

I often think of the parable about a little fish swimming next to a big fish. "Tell me about the ocean, please," the little fish asked the big fish. The big fish swam on in silence. "Please tell me about the ocean," the little fish begged, "You have been around so long and you know so much!" The big fish swam on in silence.