Approximately 25 years ago I was given a deliteful present from my brother and his best friend, the pick of the litter of registered black labs. I took him home the 1st day he could eat solid food, he wasn’t even weaned yet. I finished weaning him and he became my constant shadow, going with me to work and over most of the country. When he was almost a year old, I was in a bad car wreck that really messed up my back and I was out of work for a couple of years. I was able to spend alot of time with him then. At the time I lived on a straight country road and there was always trash being thrown out in front of my house. When I was able to get up and move about, I would go out and try to pick this trash up. Saikor ( my pals name) would be beside me every step of the way, knowing the pain I was in. I would try to reach down to pick the stuff up and he realized what I was trying to do. Before long, he was picking it up and handing it to me so i wouldn’t have to bend over.

He watched as i hobbled around the house to throw the trash in the trash can. Soon, he was picking the trash up and taking it a pushing the trash can lid up, and putting the trash in the can himself. In less than 3-4 months, all i had to do was open the front door and point to the front yard and say trash, he wouldn’t rest until it all was picked up and thrown away. That is just a small story of the wonderful years that I spent with my pal Sailor. He gave me many many years of fun love and utmost trust. The day I lost him, it tore my heart out and I vowed not to have a dog again. I came close to keeping that vow, but, Sailor had taught me Love. Many years later, I was dating a wonderful woman who loved cats and had one that some one had decided they no longer needed, his name was Tipsey (for his habit of falling over like he was drunk to get his tummy rubbed) She was also looking after 2 love birds at the time for her sister who was overseas at the time
(Huntley & Brinkley) One day, 2 2 week old kittens were thrown into our lives. We had to nurse them teach them all the things that their mother was supposed to do, they were named Crook and Chase. Afew weeks later, another set of kittens were thrust upon us, 3 kittens about 5 weeks old. We took them in too, and named them Larry, Moe, and Curly Sue. Not long after that, her Sister’s hubby was stationed in Florida and we returned the birds, while down there, she was bitten trying to feed some wild kittens on the beach, and there was a rabies scare down there, so we had to capture the kitten and bring it home with us, instead of the one kitten, we wound up with 3, and they were named boots, Scoots & Boogie. Yes, we had 9 cats in the house at one time, what a sight and what a joy to come home to. And , because she liked birds so much I surprised her with a cockatoo, who she named Connie Chung in keeping with the birds newcaster names. SO I went from loving no animals, to maintaing a house for unwanted animals for years. Now that I’m on my own again, it’s just me and a little cat now, and keeping with the funny names, her name is Band-aid or Bandi for short, because she appears to be covered in bandaids. She’s a joy to be around and wonderful to come home to. I have many stories of joy that animals have brought into my life, I could write my own book, but, I’d rather look at them and enjoy them while I’m here.

Thank You again, Michael from NC