Ever since she was born, my niece, Zara, almost 3 years old, has been on the background of my computer desktop.  The picture has changed every so often, but she’s always there.  Smiling.

My niece lives several hours away from me.  And while the trip can be done in a weekend, it doesn’t seem like I really get free enough to head that way to see my brother, sister-in-law, Zara.  I’m not sure I could ever see enough of that girl, but I certainly don’t see enough of her now.  No offense to Wayne or Teresa.  I would love to see them too.  But, Zara, well, there’s something different about her.

When I was kid, we raised a litter of pure chocolate lab. puppies.  At the time, I was physically sick a lot…and my mother would bring in one of those puppies, put it on my bed.  The miracle cure.  There was just something about them that made you feel good.

That’s how Zara is.

My best friend Sally has a niece that is 6 months younger than Zara.  They live about 20 minutes away from each other.  Needless to say, Sally sees her niece a little more than I see mine.  “Good Tonic” is what Sally says when she refers to her niece.  There is just something about her that makes you feel better.

My desktop background hasn’t changed since Christmas.  I needed some new pictures, so I sent my brother an email, asking for a few more.

Just look at that grin!!!

She truly is “Good Tonic”. 

I feel better already.