She lies quietly by my chair during mealtime.

Looking on, one might think she were asleep.

She has taught me several things already.

One is, I must put my silverware down a bit more firmly when I am finished with my meal.

I didn’t know I did this, but she does.

Because she lies there, like she is sleeping, until she hears me do that, and then she raises her head, waiting, and looking patiently at me.

And I give her my plate to lick clean.

And the other thing she has reminded me of is that a man who lived in Galilee a long time ago talked about her.

If I remember right, humility was one of the keynotes in his two-sentence sermon that day.