Lady and the Tramp

"The dog likes you better than it does me," my husband complained.  It was true, he was stuck to me like glue, it seemed.  Even when the grandchildren  played with him, he preferred me.

"What shall we name him, Mimi?" they asked.  I thought a minute, then noticing a white spot on his back near his tail, I suggested we name him "Spot."  They called him that all day, and the next time they were over they yelled, "Here, Spot!"

"I'm sorry, but his name has been changed to "Tramp," I told them.  Howard hadn't liked "Spot" for him.  He said it sounded like a first-grade reader  (from our generation.)

Later that afternoon when our daughter-in-law picked up the children, they told her about his new name. "Tramp," she said, "Lady and the Tramp.  Mimi is the lady and Tramp is the dog!"  We laughed, and I told her that had occurred to  me earlier when Howard had suggested it, since the dog was so possessive of me.

It soon became obvious that Tramp wasn't house trained, and after several accidents, I decreed he had to be an outside pet most of the time.  Howard checked the backyard fence and deemed it dog proof.  He kept getting out and my husband kept finding the escape route, declaring each time, "I found where he is getting out and I fixed it."  Secure at last, I thought, when a day had gone by with  no escape.

We found him running around outside the fence when we got home from town today, and when Howard headed to the garage and I went to put away purchases I reminded him to keep an eye on the dog.  Coming in later, he said he didn't know where he was. We called and called, but he has gone missing.

Well, we tried.  We even bought a dog collar and doggie shampoo, but a tramp is a tramp.  Maybe he's made his way to his former home.  At least I hope so.  After I reported finding him the other day, I saw the animal control truck in our neighborhood.

Like the old story of a snake who persuaded a boy to put him inside his shirt, promising not to bite him, then when it did, the serpent said, "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up."--an illustration of the  dangers of flirting with sin. 

Although the thought of Tramp gaily trotting around being fed by this one or that one is amusing, life isn't a Disney movie.  The man with the net stalks the streets.  Better to be safe than sorry, little Tramp.  Another spiritual lesson?