One week ago when I wrote my dog-sitting article, I had no idea that my parents were secretly thinking about getting another dog. On Saturday afternoon, I was sitting in the backyard with my mom when she casually brought up the fact that she was thinking about getting a puppy. When both my sister and I left home at the same time, she said that empty-nester syndrome really affected her. While she was nervous about introducing a new dog into our 8-year-old lab's life, she thought it might give both her and our current dog, Ollie, some well-needed company.

Grace Bellman