I recently heard that Montgomery County Parks and Planning will hold a hearing on April 24  for a proposed DOG PARK in an underutilized section of ELLSWORTH PARK in downtown Silver Spring. The park would be a great addition to the dog-loving Silver Spring community of which I now count Dave and myself to be proud members.

Dave and I had never had a dog during our 20 plus years together, working schedules did not allow it, and frankly, I didn’t really want a dog. My young nephew, Robert, once said “Aunt Debbie, at least you could get a goldfish!” I replied, “too much responsibility.” But when my working schedule changed about 2 years ago, I decided, why not get a dog, and we (meaning me) decided we (me) wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. My thought was go to Craigslist and get a dog….Not So Fast! I quickly learned there are emails, conversations, waiting lists, forms, deposits and questionnaires to prove your worthiness to purchase a puppy. ARGH! We got through it, named our 9-week old puppy “Winston” after my sister’s first boyfriend. (Not really, we named him after Winston Churchill due to his English roots, but my sister’s first boyfriend was named Winston.)