“Move, you old fool,” she said, and scratched behind his ear.

I brought in the rest: two bags, a paper sack of medications, and the cane.

The dog followed me back to the car and then followed me in again.

He had put on weight since October.

The neighbor’s boy had been feeding him table scraps, and nobody had told the boy no.

“Look at his ribs,” I said.

“I can’t see his ribs.”

“That’s the point.”