It’s Genetic!

When I was asked to blog about motherhood, I was a little apprehensive.  I’m not a mom in the traditional sense. My kids are the four-legged kind.  My mom used to say, ”She’s got a sixth sense with animals.”   But where did I get this “gene”?  Well, I’ve been thinking and thinking, and I think that it’s genetic. 

My mom was a sucker for a stray. That’s how I got Cyndi, my first dog.  Sure, I loved Sugar, a sweet black and white Cockapoo, but Cyndi, a small toy black poodle, was mine.  Mom confiscated this little pup from a woman who was going to “turn her loose in the park”.    Well, Cyndi lived with us for 18 years. She passed away in my arms on February 13.  Valentine’s Day was never really the same afterwards.

But Mom had always wanted dogs. When the time was ripe, she got a dog. A basset hound named Muggs.  Then the parade started… Sugar, then Cyndi, then fish… lots of fish, then a bird, then another basset named Fred, then birds… LOTS of birds, the birds had babies,  so there were even more birds… then Woody the bichon mix, then Gracie, the stray shepherd mix and Finley, the original Big Red Dog. 

My grandmother never really was too into the dogs, but alwasy brought a doggie bag home from Sunday brunch. She was a big softie.  She’d sit in the yard and feed bits of chicken and steak to Fred and Cyndi. 

My great aunt, even in her spiral into dementia, loves having her dog nearby. She brightens when Butters nuzzles her ankle. Butters is a bit of a charmer. She’s always had pets.

My cousins raised miniature horses. Cousin Joanie says we horse folks have “THE DISEASE.”

There are stories that my great grandmother was an equestrian in Poland. She’d ride to events as a young girl. 

So there you have it… how I got “the gene!”  Thanks, Mom!   If you have “the gene” welcome! It’s a great affliction to have.