By Dana Lovell, Minnesota
To increase my ability for giving and receiving love, I decided to adopt a special-needs cat. I also hoped the Soul that had been my previous cat, Austin, would reincarnate and return to me at some point. I’d dreamed this Soul had recently lived a life as a pug puppy with a loving family.
By Robert Koenig, New York
Those who love animals, especially pets, know a special bond can form when keeping one in the home. But would most animal lovers consider that a reptile can give love?
By Dannette Horton, North Carolina
At four o’clock on a Saturday morning, a dish crashing to the floor in the kitchen downstairs awakened me. I heard my ex-husband, Carl, making sounds as if he was in pain. (Although Carl and I are divorced, he is still my best friend and lives with us.) My thirty-seven-year-old son, Eric, was pleading in an urgent voice, “Dad, please try to sit up in the chair.”
By Benny Callaghan, Minnesota
A friend once gave me a plant as a gift and said, “First, you need to learn to look after a plant; then, you graduate to an animal; and finally, you will be ready for a child.”