{"id":6186,"date":"2026-07-14T14:55:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T12:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/bibliotheek\/on-the-bright-side\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:07:44","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:07:44","slug":"on-the-bright-side","status":"publish","type":"library_pt","link":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/library\/kolommen\/on-the-bright-side\/","title":{"rendered":"On the bright side"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-07-14T12:53:11.303Z\">14 July 2026<\/time><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We all had a sort of love-hate relationship with Tommy, because he could be sweet, but he was usually naughty. Walking Tommy was a challenge, because he decided the route himself, and when you called him, more often than not he didn\u2019t come. If he saw or smelled something edible, he\u2019d grab it. Large pieces of cheese and sandwiches would disappear from the table. When he was home alone, he\u2019d break out of his crate and destroy shoes and furniture\u2014he\u2019d even gnaw holes in walls and window frames. That\u2019s why he was usually allowed to come along on family outings and to parties. In the photos, he always seems to be looking triumphantly at the camera!        <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If Tommy really couldn\u2019t come along, he\u2019d stay with me\u2014and he was the most obedient and sweetest dog in the world. Wherever I was, there he was! At the office, in the kitchen, and in the living room. The downside was that he was always walking right in front of your feet, and since he was pretty small, you couldn\u2019t see him. On my blind right side, I couldn\u2019t see him at all. I (almost) tripped over him so many times, and I\u2019d kick him pretty regularly. Then he\u2019d whine very dramatically! It took him a long time to figure out that he\u2019d be better off staying on my left side. If I did happen to bump into him anyway, he\u2019d give me the sweetest apologetic look. Well, \u201clook\u201d is a bit of an exaggeration. He didn\u2019t look me straight in the eye, but only at my left, sighted eye, ignoring my stationary prosthetic eye.            <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tommy\u2019s successor is a completely different dog\u2014and a few sizes bigger. My neighbor\u2019s dog is a one-and-a-half-year-old Malinois who was too sweet to become a police dog. She\u2019s truly exceptionally sweet, obedient, and super smart\u2014because after just one \u201csit,\u201d she already knew it\u2019s better to stay on my left side!    <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Anita Hol-Bubeck<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At 2 a.m., my phone rang, and I heard my daughter whisper through her tears, \u201cMom, I think he\u2019s dead\u2026.\u201d Tommy, the little beagle mix, had passed away in her arms at home. I cried with her. Our big little friend was gone. He had been part of our family for 11 years, and the fact that he was no longer with us hit us hard.     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6188,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_daextauttol_enable_tooltips":""},"library_cat":[112],"class_list":["post-6186","library_pt","type-library_pt","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","library_cat-kolommen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt\/6186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_pt"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/library_pt"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"library_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ver-ooginoog.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/library_cat?post=6186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}