A symbol of my career was laid to rest this weekend. “Belle,” our 16-year-old dalmatian, had to be put to sleep simply due to old age. She was a symbol as she was on every Gallagher family Christmas postcard sent to clients, friends and subscribers of Global Traveler. She enabled me to be the traveler that I had to be, as I always knew that my protector was home with the girls making sure they were safe and secure. She had a personality and certainly did not like everyone. Often, she did not like people that I really did not find of interest; other times it was downright jealousy! Case in point, my nephew Drew house-sat for us 10+ years ago while we were traveling on vacation. Drew made himself a nice hoagie (sub to you non-Philadelphians) and sat down to watch a ball game on TV (he’s a producer now for ESPN). He got up to get a drink and when he returned, Belle had eaten the entire hoagie! On that weekend, Drew and Belle bonded. Drew had some of his pals over for a kick-ass pool party and Belle was in her element surrounded by young men. They continued to have this bond whenever Drew stopped by. But Belle was not too fond of Drew’s fiancee and would bark and growl at her. She was moving onto Belle’s turf and that was not to be done! It was really very funny to watch. Yes, this was the same puppy who would take great joy in running after Katie (my daughter) in the backyard and successfully taking her down in the mud and grass. The same dog that liked to jump up and dance to music and the same dog that we tried to train with a professional, but the trainer quit. A protector to my girls when I traveled, the first to greet me at the door when I returned. Never was there a sweeter dog to me and my family and friends, and conversely feared by the unwanted. I know many of you will read this and think “She was just a dog” and “What is this doing on a travel blog”. Belle allowed me to do my thing and was part of the Global Traveler family. Recently, my calls home from wherever I was in the world – Hong Kong, Korea, London and others – always turned to one question, “How is Belle?” She was a geriatric dalmatian and her inability to be herself had been diminishing over the past 18 months. I feared I would be in some faraway land when the day came and I am pleased I was there with her in the end. She died peacefully, in the arms of my wife. She was the sweetest dog to the end and we are all torn apart by this little pup. In “dog years” she was an old lady, but I am sure somewhere she is chasing rabbits and stealing food and wondering when I’ll come home. -Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO