Dear Jewish Fairy Godmother:

My husband is a welder. In good times he is very fully employed. In
bad ones it can be a week at a time, and during the Great Recession
his company laid off and re-hired him more often than I can count.
Now things are improving and he is back in the workforce, but they
have (for the second time) posted him two hours away. He lives on
site with a bunch of the other guys during the week and comes home
weekends. After thirty years of marriage we both sort of enjoy the
time apart and then reconnecting. But I think he misses our dog Molly
more than he misses me. He jokes about the other guys talking more
about their dogs than their wives but I think he’s telling me
something. Should I feel hurt?

Second Fiddle

 
Dear Second Fiddle:

No you should not. Any marriage that has lasted thirty years with ups
and downs financially isn’t gong anywhere. But since your husband is,
there’s a chance for him to do some good while he is away. He and the
guys he works with should go visit the local animal shelter. They may
be able op arrange some kind of foster program for dogs that are in
the shelter. It would be a chance for some poor pooch or two to get
out of a kennel and into a home for a while. The guys could re socialize
the animal and rejoice in the loving affection of a dog rescued from
confinement or worse.

In the best-case scenario, someone falls in love and adopts the
foundling. In the worst, the dog returns to the shelter better for the
love, attention, walks and general camaraderie. I’m betting on
scenario number one.