Because of my current sciatica attack, I can’t even sit up without excruciating pain, so naturally taking Lightning out for a walk had been out of the question ever since I brought him home.

But today Renée, my saint of a wife who has been taking care of all my responsibilities on top of all of her own, had a cheerful surprise for me when she brought Lightning in from his afternoon walk.

“Guess what, he was retrieving,” she said.

“He was what?”

“You know that duck we have out on the lawn?” She meant the old Mallard Dokkein I used to throw for Lumi. I still take it out to throw for Laddie once in awhile, too. “I kept throwing it for Lightning just now, and every time I threw it, he brought it back.”

I wish I could have seen that. Oh, I wish I could have seen it.

Renée added that she regretted not having a clicker and some treats.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” I assured her. “Lightning wasn’t retrieving for clicks or treats. That was all for him.”

Renée was still concerned. “Lindsay, that duck was bigger than him.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said with a happy glow.