Furry family members

and their unconditional love...

Mar 29, 2025

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."~Anatole France

Over the years I have been blessed with many wonderful pets from childhood through the present day. Growing up on a dairy farm, I always remember my father having a dog by his side. The first dog I can remember was named Ginger, a Brittany spaniel that bore generations of puppies and was my favorite dog from kindergarten through my high school years. She had the distinction of being the first dog our mother allowed to enter our house (even though it was just the entranceway).

Cats, on the other hand, lived in the barn and had a limited, more aloof existence. Unfortunately being stepped on by cows was a common occurrence and they ended up living in the haymow in order to survive. Tom and Jerry were our haymow cats and thinking back I really wonder how they survived as well as they did.

When my parents retired they had rescue dogs. The first was named Beauty and she loved to travel in the van with my parents on their many trips to their cabin up north.

Following Beauty’s passing, Abe was the next rescue dog I found for them. Abe was a black and white Springer spaniel and he used to curl his top lip and smile at us when he was happy. When I would get into my car to leave after a weekend visit with my parents, he would climb up the driver’s seat, give me one of his smiles, followed by a quick lick goodbye on my nose.

When I married, my husband and I adopted Pete, a rescue cat, who was our loving companion for the next 13 years. Later we had a Golden retriever named Ginger, a kitten we playfully called Kiwi, another rescue cat, Marcus and a “pandemic pet”, a Shiba Inu puppy named Eto. Each animal had their own unique personalities, quirks and memorable moments.

They have all been my companions, my therapists, my personal cheerleaders...I am sure many readers can relate.

After my divorce I found myself without a pet for the first time in my life and I really missed Eto and Marcus. So I adopted another rescue cat and named him Oliver.

Ollie has his own unique personality, including ingesting inappropriate items such as socks. In February he ended up having emergency surgery to remove one of those socks from his stomach and I am very lucky that he is still here with me. There is just something about sharing a space with another living creature that makes life a little less lonely…

Pet Therapy

Research has shown that the presence of a beloved pet or therapy animal can help a person control daily anxiety, regulate emotional arousals, and improve their mood. Since therapy dogs are trained to be attentive to a person's needs and offer unconditional love, they can often stabilize intense emotions. Petting an animal can cause your brain to release chemicals called endorphins. These chemicals counteract your body's reaction to pain by causing a sense of pleasure or well-being. This can also help ease depression.

In one study, researchers at the University of Saskatchewan asked more than 200 ER patients to record their pain levels. Half of the patients were given a 10 minute encounter with a therapy dog, after which both groups were asked how much pain they were in. 43 percent of the patients who had visits from the therapy dogs reported less pain and anxiety.

I have witnessed in my own life, the positive power of friendship between pets and “their humans”. I think I will follow in my Dad’s footsteps and always have a furry companion by my side.

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Tranquil Moments…

I asked my niece, Jennifer Malphy, if she could share some of her nature photos with my newsletter audience. Each week I will feature a new photo. Here is this week’s:

Smile Video

When you think of emotional support animals, you may think of dogs or cats. But one Pennsylvania man has an alligator named Wally. Steve Hartman shares more in "On the Road."

#spreadkindnessandlove #stevehartman #smilevideos

What I am reading…

This week I checked out from my local library The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery. It is a very interesting book and I want to thank my friend, Pastor Ann, for telling me about it.

Here is the Amazon summary: “In pursuit of the wild, solitary, predatory octopus, popular naturalist Sy Montgomery has practiced true immersion journalism. From New England aquarium tanks to the reefs of French Polynesia and the Gulf of Mexico, she has befriended octopuses with strikingly different personalities—gentle Athena, assertive Octavia, curious Kali, and joyful Karma. Each creature shows her cleverness in myriad ways: escaping enclosures like an orangutan; jetting water to bounce balls; and endlessly tricking companions with multiple “sleights of hand” to get food.

Scientists have only recently accepted the intelligence of dogs, birds, and chimpanzees but now are watching octopuses solve problems and are trying to decipher the meaning of the animal’s color-changing techniques. With her “joyful passion for these intelligent and fascinating creatures” (Library Journal Editors’ Spring Pick), Montgomery chronicles the growing appreciation of this mollusk as she tells a unique love story. By turns funny, entertaining, touching, and profound, The Soul of an Octopus reveals what octopuses can teach us about the meeting of two very different minds.”

Facebook moments…

Just when you think rescuing an animal is not that important, these photos are proof of the difference humans can make with their adoptions of deserted animals…

This week’s TED Talk

I have watched TED Talks for many years now. I love the wide variety of experiences and opinions TED Talks offer. Here is one I would like to share for this week:

Ellie May Harvey, a year 10 student at The King Alfred School, talks about her experiences in animal assisted therapy and how we can learn from it.

Kindness Matters

With everything that’s been going on in our world today, wouldn’t it be nice to have a kinder place to live in? This is where the Facebook group Kindness Matters comes in. My friend Tammy started this kindness initiative a few years ago. Her goal is to make this world a kinder, better place to live in and share inspirational quotes and random acts of kindness. Helping people to feel better about themselves and our world should be a daily goal for all of us. It doesn’t take a lot of time to do something kind for someone.

To join this group go to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3154755881406378