Marley and Me
Sunday, July 10, 2005
A North Carolina early reader weighs in
Beth B. is an academic researcher in North Carolina who was on a business trip recently with a colleague who was carrying an advanced copy of Marley & Me. Beth writes that she saw the cover with Marley's puppy eyes staring out at her and couldn't resist taking a peek. "I picked it up and started reading it," she wrote in an e-mail. "Then I couldn't put it down..." All right, Beth! Right response!
Seriously, she wrote a lovely note, which I wanted to share here. Beth, take it away:
Hi Mr. Grogan,
I felt that I had to tell you how much your book touched me. My husband and I have a wonderful 7-year-old chocolate lab named Moultrie, and I found myself laughing throughout your book, able to clearly picture your adventures with Marley, as many of them were adventures that I could envision experiencing with my goofball as well. I was able to identify with the intense feeling of love you can have for something that can be so destructive and inconvenient.
Of course, I was sobbing uncontrollably at the end of the book, even though Marley had obviously lived a very full and charmed life. It reminded me of Moultrie's mortality and I spent a long time cuddling with her the night I finished the book.
Thank you for the reminder that these creatures are wonderful, unbelievably loyal and loving gifts to us, and that we need to appreciate them every single day while they are with us. If only their lives weren't so short. Thanks for a beautiful book. Beth
And thanks for a beautiful note, Beth. Yes, if only their lives weren't so short. For all the joy and laughter they bring humans, their roles in our families and our lives always end the same way -- with us saying good bye to them. It's never easy.
posted by John Grogan at 6:51 PM
 
1 Comments:
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I'll start off by saying that my name is Jess. I am not part of the ordinary crowd of readers you hear from, I suppose... I'm going to be 14 at the end of
April, so I don't think there are many Marley fans my age. I would be overjoyed to hear a response from you, but you don't have to: I'm only writing to let you know that you and Marley have made a great impact on me.
I'm a quick reader for my age, and I just finished your book about a half hour ago after starting it about 3 days ago. I cried from the part where Conor, Patrick, and Colleen said goodbye to their furry friend unknowingly until the very end of the acknowledgements. Maybe it's because my year-old yellow lab reminds me of Marley. She has the same physical attributes (minus those found in
males only), with a lean, lanky figure, 90 pounds of pure muscle, and a beautiful coat. I was amazed at how much she resembles Marley in the pictures on
the inside cover of Marley & Me. She also shares his zany nature, and although she hasn't yet broken screen doors or gouged holes within our walls, she flings drool, tore up our backyard, pursues squirrels like a cheetah on the hunt, rips the eyes out of stuffed animals, leaps on guests in excitement, and is always prancing around with a pen, shoe, or other unidentified object in her mouth, a happy grin on her face all the while.
Your story made me burst out in laughter and tears at the same time; I feel like I know Marley, and maybe that is partly why I found it difficult to let him go. I also was upset from the part where he began to grow weathered with age, because I wanted to remember Marley as the spunky little puppy that I find in my dog, Koda. Thank you for everything you've done for me and everyone else by
sharing Marley with us. I will never forget his story; he teaches the greatest lessons of all.
-Jess