If our dogs could only talk to us That's what makes six year old Darlene Stempler's relationship with her nine year old black Labrador, Cookies, so special. Darlene believes with all her heart that she and Cookies communicate through ESP. Cookies is her best and most trusted friend. So when Cookies limps home one afternoon with a bad leg, she's worried about the outcome. Her father, Ron, has lost his job in the Great Recession, and though he's willing to do all he can to restore Cookie's to health, she's not sure time or the family's dwindling bank account is on her side. The not so great Great Recession. Christmas. An out of work father. And an injured, aging family pet requiring costly ACL surgery. Ron Stempler fully intended to have their nine year old Labrador medically fixed up until everyone suggested an unthinkable alternative. Everyone except his wife and his daughter Darlene who claimed to have an unbreakable ESP connection with her beloved black lab. While trying to decide what to do with the animal they consider a "family member," it is Ron himself - disenfranchised, self doubting, but loving father - whose hard choices allow him to rediscover his valued place as a "family member." FAMILY MEMBER / COMEDY/ DRAMA / FICTION (c)2012 ALBERT GOODMAN has one wife, three sons, and two dogs - but who's counting? "Family Member" is the novelization of his 2003 screenplay of the same name. Albert has written twelve unproduced screenplays. Apparently, he's counting. Albert dedicates "Family Member" to his wife. Buy a copy so she can finally have people over. FAMILY MEMBER / COMEDY/ DRAMA / FICTION (c)201