The 6th member of our family was Flame, a Golden Retriever. She and Ed had a special bond that we noticed early on. Using her foolproof internal clock, she would go to the front door when he was due to walk home from work, and sit on the front lawn to await him. He could be easily spotted from a long distance, due in large part to Ed’s rolling shoulders that distinguished his gait from any other men walking down Radin Road. For several long minutes, Flame would sit in full alert mode, back straight, head held high, and ears perked up, barely able to contain her glee at the impending reunion. As she had been trained to do, she waited for his whistle before tearing off to give him a tail-wagging welcome him home. When the 3 of us children left home for university, Ed and Flame because even closer. He was now the chief dog-walker, and he and Nan fed her every night. Brother Ben, however, claimed that his own special bond with Flame would never be surpassed, and proposed putting it to the test. He and Ed sat Flame on the front sidewalk, and then walked silently in opposing directions. Flame looked a little torn as she looked in the direction of one, and then the other as they walked further away. But she soon ran off to catch up to Ed, to Ben’s dismay. So Ben set up a second test, similar to the first, but where he and Ed would be allowed to entice Flame by whistling and calling her as they walked in opposing directions. Ben’s whistle was by far the loudest in the family and had never previously failed to bring Flame running. But again, after looking first one way and then the other, she heard Ed’s distinct, simple, low-volume whistle, and tore off in his direction. Ben reluctantly conceded to Ed.