So we added a little yellow friend to our little house of dreams.  Three weeks ago, our dear Lucy died.  Gone in an instant.  I know she was just a dog, but she left a loss deep inside.  A tangible loss as thick as her yellow coat around her neck, the softness of her ears, her dog smell, her long pink tongue.  Gone.  One week later, we brought home a new puppy, an unknown friend.  She didn't smell the same.  She didn't play the same.  Her tail didn't stand up and wag the same.  But somehow in her quiet ways, the way she curls up on my toes, waits expectantly to see me at the door, travels so closely on the heels of my feet, she has wound her way into our family.  Softly, slowly, she is becoming our new, dear yellow friend.