I was out for a walk one evening with my dogs, Precious, an itty, bitty black and white female shih tzu, and Spirit, a frisky white male bichon frise, when I discovered a new meaning to the age-old saying “Dogs are a man’s best friend.”

Over the past two years, daily walks with Precious and Spirit have become a three-to-four times a day routine. Many days I go through the motions. I’m hurrying to get their walks in so I can move on to my next task. I go through the motions, rather than being fully present in the moment.

Spirit napping after a walk in the neighborhood.

This walk was different, though. The oppressive heat of the “dog days of summer” was behind us. It was a lovely evening, with a sniff of fall breeze tickling my nose. I was enjoying being outdoors, away from the ever-present demands of my home office. Precious and Spirit seemed carefree, too.

We were on the last leg of our walk, just a few doors away from home, when Spirit tugged on his leash. He wanted to greet Shilo, my neighbor’s golden retriever. As Shilo and Spirit swished their tails in a friendly encounter, Priscilla, grandmother of Shilo’s owner, and I began conversing. It was a woman-to-woman, spontaneous, animated conversation—well beyond the typical talk about the weather.

Spirit and Precious get familar with the neigborhood.

We talked, and laughed, quite a while. No topic seemed out of reach: Skin care, exercise, doctor’s referrals, and family activities. Priscilla even gave me a flyer about a relief effort her granddaughter, Natalie, was spearheading for a local family who had suffered the tragic loss of two children in a fire that destroyed their home. It was news to me, even though it had been all over the media for several days. I thanked her for the flyer and told her I would read it when I got home.

The next night, once again, I’m out for a walk with Precious and Spirit. Marlene, my sister who lives just down the street, joins us for our walk. Natalie, Priscilla’s granddaughter, and Shilo are outside, too. Spirit immediately heads in Shilo’s direction, with Precious close behind him. We all stop to greet each other, neighbor-to-neighbor, dog-to-dog.

Our dogs began to play together and Natalie, Marlene, and I zoomed into a deep conversation about the tragic fire. Natalie helped us understand the magnitude of loss. It catapulted me and my sister into action. That’s when I realized that dogs are more than man’s best friend. Dogs are one of God’s creations that help human beings deconstruct the silos of anonymity we’ve erected in our neighborhoods. Dogs help us get out of our air-conditioned homes and home offices and into the neighborhood. They make sure we have daily opportunities to talk with our neighbors. To find out when there’s a need to lend a helping hand.

Precious takes a break from overseeing the work of her owner, the "most abled assistant."

In laughter club, kindness is one of the six easy-to-do daily practices we encourage each other to embrace as a way to prevent hardening of the attitudes. In this case, Spirit, Precious, and Shilo accomplished what the media and flyers were not able to do. Our dogs got a neighborhood talking, which swung wide the door for kindness to bolt into action. And that brought forth hope. And maybe, sometime in the future, laughter may resurface for a family who now grieves the loss of two young children, and their home. Right now doesn’t seem like an appropriate time to say C’mon, Let’s Laugh!