And I thought Claren was cool

Yesterday, we passed a girl in the Metro station and she smiled and then I saw her whip out her cellphone to get a photo.

 I laughed and thought to myself I wish I had a dollar for every stranger who took our picture, or at least Claren's. I'd have less than $10, but still, pretty good. Right?

That's what I thought until I ran into my friend who is raising Nathan, a service dog for Veterans Moving Forward.

Nathan is a ridiculously cute golden retriever who "blogs" on the Coast Guard's website. I refer to him as Claren's boy-toy because they seem to love each other even though he is nine years Claren's junior.

My friend told me how she and Nathan were coming back from NYC recently on the train. She said this woman kept staring, came over and talked about service dogs. Then all of a sudden said, "THAT'S NATHAN!"

My friend was taken aback so the woman added, "I am one of his fans." She was a Coast Guard employee who follows his blog.

At least Claren can say she had a famous boy-toy.