Would I have gone on a date with my future spouse had I looked closely at her Tinder profile? Probably not. There was a dog in her picture; I’m allergic to everything furry. We hadn’t yet ordered a drink when Nina said she was a passionate veterinarian, specializing in pets with dementia. That’s how I heard about her biblically old dog, Berti. “He won’t live very long,” she said. Encouraged, I went with her to another bar and later to her apartment. Four years on, we are happily married, living together in Germany, with Berti, age 17, still alive. — Max Balzer

Positively Purging-I welcome your feedbacks in the comments and your likes and passing the real life wisdom on to others as I embark on this new venture of “positively purging“, as I know each of these pieces represents something…