The Gifts They Give

My sister, Larkin, 

in the period of one week,

has lost both of the family pets. 

One to a strange neuro thing.  

The other to bone cancer. 

One was expected. 

The other was not. 

I feel sad for her.  

It's a lot to lose all at once. 

And the ground is frozen right now

so graves are even harder to dig. 

Thinking about her family

and the loss of their sweet pets

gives me paws to dote on mine.  

So, come along, shall we?  

I'll take you on a tour

of the fuzzy

the clawed

the zany

the wagging

the slobbery fun

and neurosis 

that are my animal family. 

Meet Wailynn.  

Several summers ago, 

while working in my garden,

I heard a God-awful wailing sound. 

It didn't stop.  

I thought it was something dying. 

It took me almost an hour to find it's source. 

A tiny fizzy kitten

In a pile of rubble

in my neighbor's yard.

With a hornets' nest

Grown around the twisted metal

that made up the pile. 

I'm allergic to some sort of stinging thing

So sticking my arm in to retrieve this fluffy kitten

was no small matter.  

But, eventually, retrieve her I did. 

She became ours. 

And she grew.  

Into a 17 pound cat. 

She's moody. 

She's tetched.  

And we love her.  

Meet Fizz Dog.

Coupla summers ago, 

I was sick. 

Very sick. 

I spent months in bed. 

Fizz was a puppy, 

full of energy. 

But he spent hours with me,

In my bed,

Sharing his healing energy with me.

Fizz Dog is still kind of a puppy

And always a love

And kind of dumb.

Today I got home and he was trapped

in our cat house.  

Silly Fizz.

He's a great playing-in-the-woods-dog.  

His Partner In Crime is 

Belle

Belle is absolutely beautiful

and absolutely sweet.

She is so tolerant of Luken

and Fizz

and the cats

and me

and the neighbor dogs.

Belle is a gem.

When we're in the woods,

Belle runs

But always returns.

I think she's happiest in the woods.

And, when we're not on the go,

Belle doesn't hesitate to

settle in 

for a good long

snuggle.

We're lucky to have her.

Babette is our black fluffy cat.

She's shy.

And talks to walls.

And sometimes catches mice.

She doesn't really like to have her picture taken. 

We shave her in the summer 

because all that thick black hair

makes her SO hot that she just

goes limp like a 

floppy

black

rug.

She's miserable like that and when we do shave her,

she rolls around

and plays like a kitten.  

Silly girl. 

Babette gets along well with all our animal family. 

It's not at all uncommon to find her and Belle curled up together. 

They're both just sweet that way. 

And then there's Anika.

My old Siamese kitty.

With two dozen toes.

And with each toe, a claw. 

Indeed. 

Anika is over 20 years old 

and now, she mostly sleeps.

I give her IV fluids when she needs them

and pain shots to keep her comfortable. 

She's welcome to stay here

for as long as she wants to.

And when it's time for her to go,

she knows that's okay too. 

I've had Anika for a long time

and we've been through

a lot together. 

She sleeps next to my head at night

and sometimes, 

I think that her spirit

leaves her body 

and she travels.

Anika is quite tolerant of Luken

and has taught him about being tender

with things smaller

than he is.

She is wise

and I'm proud that

she's chosen to live with us for so long.

And then there's . . . 

Oh, wait!

That's not a dog. 

That's a boy!

Yes, that's my son. 

Who thinks he's a dog. 

Pets are such special

members of peoples' families.

I don't know why they choose to stay with us.

But I sure am glad they do. 

hbk