This afternoon my cousin, sister, and I went for a walk. One of their dogs was up at the house plus another dog that they are dog-sitting for over the week. Dogs sure seem like an awful lot of work. Three of my siblings have dogs now and I’ve caught only glimpses of all that is involved in caring for them and training them. This was the first time I think I’ve ever walked a dog.

Cats are a lot easier. Growing up that’s what we had after a series of emotionally based decisions by my mother. One day there was a free cat in the pet store and the rest is history. From there we enjoyed several litters and got attached to many of them, even getting to keep an entire litter at one point. Mom got attached to another one later. By the time we moved from New York there were six cats that needed homes.

My grandparents took all of them. Only one was allowed inside, but the rest had a home on their outdoor porch and four acres of land. My grandma has often told me the story of how I gave her two dollars before we moved telling her it was to put toward cat food and if she needed more to let me know. I don’t remember that but she never did ask for any more dollars.