After years of pleading with her mother, my mother finally got a puppy when she was 15. “Joke” (probably spelled “Dzoke” in Polish) was an exuberant dachshund-fox terrier mix who loved to play and hated baths. My mother loved him dearly and, in one of her essays, described this photo as one of her “treasures.” She was heartbroken when he died of old age at the age of 12 while she was away on an extended vacation.