So I'm laying on the couch watching "Last Comic Standing" and Mylie runs to the kitchen to grab a snack. She brings it back to the living room, plops down and munches happily away. I'm not really paying that close of attention to her since I'm watching TV, but all of a sudden she jumps on the couch, runs up my legs and plops on my chest giving me the puppified equivalent of hugs and kisses. Joy like this is simply hard to come by some days. And as spontaneous as her burst of affection is the swell of tears and fear of realizing she'll up and die one day. As warped as it sounds, it's a process, this opening of a heart...