If you have ever owned or currently are fortunate enough to own a black Labrador as a pet dog then you will understand what the title of this post is all about.
I have been privileged enough to have shared my life with my black Labrador Retriever for the past 13 years. Not a day goes by where upon my pet dog is not happy to see me. He wags his tail like mad from side to side, dashes out the front door and upon his return barges between my legs and proceeds to shower me with an abundance of affectionate licks.
Whenever some utility serviceman knocks on the front door he is there like a shot making sure that I am protected. If I work late, he will not eat his food until I come home that night.
Actions like these from your black Labrador bring him - make him near and dear to your heart. It is with this thought in mind that a remembered a newspaper article I read. Its about a fallen Marine's family adopting his best friend.(written by Randy Roughton)
This best friend is a black Labrador Retriever.
In the final days of Marine Corps Pfc Colton W Rusk's deployment in Afghanistan he wrote this about Eli ; his infantry explosives detector dog : "Whatever is mine is his."
Sadly Private Colton W Rusk was killed on December 5 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, by Taliban sniper fire.
Marines officials told Colton's parents, that Eli crawled on top of their son to protect him after he was shot.
When the Rusks drove up to Lackland Air Force Base from their home in Orange Grove, Texas to adopt Eli the Marine Staff Sgt. Jessy Eslick ( Department of Defense Military Working Dog Research and Development Section) praised Eli as "a dog that brought Marines home to their families."
Adopting Eli provided Darrel and Kathy Rusk an avenue to get their minds off the sadness of losing their son Colton. Just to know that they were able to share the love they had for there son with a military service dog that he loved so dearly was tremendously pacifying for them. Although they wished that Eli could talk to tell them some stories.
By experiencing what a difference black Labradors make to your life such that you regard them as your favorite people; I see that there is a fair amount of black Labrador
t shirts on the market to commemorate this.
I hope and pray that your black Labrador retriever makes a profound difference to your life?