A Pilots Education



The first year I worked for Virgil at Dunkerton, when I walked into his office I knew he had the secret. The first thing I read on his bulletin board was a short insert from the book Marley and Me by John Grogan. It was a short story about how a dog can teach us how to live our life. Here it is I hope it moves you as much as it does me.


“No one ever called him a great dog-or even a good dog. He was as wild as a banshee and strong as a bull. He crashed joyously through life with a gusto most often associated with natural disasters. He was a chewer of couches, a slasher of screens, a slinger of drool, a tipper of trash cans. As for brains, let me say he chased his tail till the day he died, apparently convinced he was on the verge of major canine breakthrough. There was more to him though. His intuition and empathy, his gentleness with children, his pure heart.

What I really wanted to say was how this animal had touched our souls and taught us some of the most important lessons of our lives. A person can learn a lot from a dog even a loopy one like ours. He taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate simple things- a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, a nap on a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly he taught me about friendship and selfishness and, and above all else, unwavering loyalty.

It was an amazing concept that I only now in the wake of his death, fully absorbing: Dog as mentor. As teacher and role model. Was it possible for a dog- any dog, but especially a nutty wildly uncontrollable one like ours- to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believe it is. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy and the things that did not matter too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give his.

It was really quite simple, and yet we humans so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not. It is all right there in front of us, if only we opened our eyes. Sometimes it took a dog with bad breath, worse manners, and pure intentions to help us see."