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This is a story about two dogs, Dolly, who was taken by the author from a Rappahannock County sheep farm and raised in the suburbs of Alexandria, and Amanda, who remained on the sheep farm.
By MYRNA OLIVER
Rappahannock New* Special Contributor
This is the story of two sisters who were separated when they were little and meet again many years later. One of them was raised in the country, the other in the suburbs.
What can be learned from the exchange about to take place? Is there anything to be learned from their very different lifestyles?
Come, let’s listen in on their conversation.
Dolly, the sister that was taken away to the suburbs, returns to the countryside and runs into her sister Amanda, nicknamed Panda as a child.
“Hello, Panda! How great to see you! I didn’t know of your existence until my family recently revealed how on a visit to this lovely farm they saw me and always wanted someone like me and I was up for adoption and, lucky for them, they were chosen to be my new family.
“Naturally, I was too little to grasp the meaning of all that happened that hot August day as I left. All I knew was that the family was warm and loving, but I felt like I was missing something, because they tell me I slept a lot, trying to make the best of the new situation I was in.
“You see, I missed you! All the fun we had playing and fighting and napping together. Oh! how we discovered grass, fences, ponds, new sounds, new smells.
“The whole world was so pretty and exciting. Tell me, Panda, how did our being separated affect you and when did they tell you about me?”
“Oh! darling Dolly. If you only knew the happiness I felt when I heard I had a sister living just past the Beltway in Alexandria. My family only recently revealed the secret. I only vaguely remember that hot August day when you were taken away. Like you, I was too little to understand.
“I am told that I was in the arms of the kind lady that has raised me and that my real mother and dad and uncle all stood by very solemnly and saw you being driven away. However, they were powerless and unable to do anything to stop the splitting of the family. They tell me we all looked perplexed and sad and that, like you, I coped with the separation by sleeping a lot.
“Oh, Dolly, let’s not talk about sad things. Let’s be happy and talk and
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