Thanks so much for your really very kind comments....certainly I was not a perfect mom, but loving animals as I did, I wished for my boys to know that loving relationship....often when I talk with my remaining son, many events, when recalled, are often punctuated with what animals we had then, and all the things that those animals did...and how they made our lives so full...
When my older boy first became ill, he was initially in t he hospital for 11 weeks....when he was finally well enough to bring home, all he could think about was his dog...he was worried that his dog would no longer recognize him, since he had been gone for so long...he worried for nothing...as soon as he came into the house, his dog, just screamed for joy, to see his pal again...
I too, always seemed to be followed by a pack of animals...we always laughed, whenever I went into the bathroom, I was followed by a trail of animals, who did not believe in letting me out of their sight...if I closed and locked the bathroom door, they would lay outside the door, and just whine and whimper...it was just easier to let them into the bathroom...doing my business, or taking bath, always seemed to be done in front of an audience of furry 4 legged friends...
But these memories, are what our lives are made up of...I am going to be 60 yrs old next month and the hubby is 62...we are both retired, and looking forward to getting into our Rv, and drive and tourist around and just have some grand adventures, before the son thinks we are demented, and lassos us back in...but being on the 'down' side of life now, those wonderful memories, of my boys and their pets, and my times with all of them, will warm my heart in my old age...
Will have to look at your homepage, and read about your 'hounds'
Lady, if *my* mom had been like you, I'd be lighting candles in front of her picture every night....:)
99% of the best memories I have include some critter or another.
I can tell you a million wonderful dog/horse/rat/rabbit/chicken/goose/cow/goat/sheep/possum/squirrel stories but not many great people tales.
After the thing with the uncle started, I pretty much kept to myself and my critters.
I'm probably a better person for it because I learned love, loyalty and forgiveness from all of them.
I learned most of all to be both *human* and *humane*...:)