You’ve had a lot of pets in your life. What is it about having pets that brings you joy? Which pets have been some of your favorites?

You are right – so many pets!! Mostly dogs, a few cats. Growing up we had only one dog – Kuddles – a spaniel mix who my sister and I loved, and learned to appreciate the joy and companionship of a dog!

Kuddles on our back stoop in Hilo! Circa 1952

A stray kitten we wanted to keep – but that didn’t happen!

We had Kuddles until I was a teenager!

I am not sure exactly what it is about pets that brings me joy, but there is something heart- warming and comforting that they bring to daily living. I can’t say I ever had a favorite, but here are photos that bring the memory alive of the most memorable and special! Not in chronological order!

Lavinia

Lavinia was with me when I lived in Connecticut – she went to live with a friend when we moved to California. She would get stuck under the sofa in the big RV we had!

Samson

Samson was Allison’s cat, who came to live me Karen and me when Allison rented an apartment that would not allow pets – even cats. We discovered that Samson loved to eat gift-wrap ribbons – and he had to have surgery to unpack them from his GI system!

Jazz

You knew Jazz as well – she moved with us from Denver to Connecticut and she was your overnight roomie!

Angel

Angel and her puppies

You knew Angel as well and were there for the birth of the puppies! Angel came to our family when we lived in Dayton, then the puppies were born in New York shortly after I moved there. You were living with Phil, but came to New York for the birth! Angel was a wonderful dog – very loyal and never wandered more than 6 feet from me when we were anywhere outside!

Angel’s puppies!

Tillie

Tillie again

You may remember more about Tillie than I do – she lived with us in Dayton. She was a sweet sweet dog!

Monday

Monday was actually given to me by my parents. She was a gift to them from a woman who bred and raised these cats as show cats. They were never particularly fond of Monday, so Monday came to live with me and Phil!

Sarah the Bull Mastif with Cozie and Sophia

Cozie is the one snuggled right next to Sarah! More about each one below.

Sophia and Cozie

Sophia was discovered in a pet store in Buffalo by my sister, when she was visiting me and Charlene! We were shopping in a nearby store, and CR came to get me and Charlene to come see this adorable pug in the store. And of course the adorable pug came to live with us. She was one of the most entertaining dogs ever – when Charlene and I were trying to decide on her name, we ended up naming her Sophia, So Funny, So Fine! She moved with us from Buffalo to Denver, and we decided that she needed a sister, so we found a pug breeder in Montana and fetched Cozie to come live with us. They were inseparable buddies from the very start!

Sophia about 5 days after we got her

Sophia and Cozie

They are not easy to tell apart in photos (their personalities defined them in person!). Sophia’s face was darker and the black areas less well defined.

Sarah guarding my friend Jan and Cozie

This photo shows Sarah’s massive size! And her gorgeous presence. Sarah developed a terrible lung lymphoma – I took her to the vet school in Fort Collins, and they explored possible treatments, but to no avail. It is always hard to lose a pet, but Sarah was only about 3 years old. She was a terrific communicator, and we were very attached. Sarah was with us when Charlene died – Sarah died about 9 month later, so this was an especially hard loss. But as hard as loosing a pet is, what they bring to life while they are with us is irreplaceable and precious!

Priscilla

I love cats but they don’t make the kind of “mark” on my life/memory that dogs do! So Priscilla was a wonderful cat – but I don’t have specific memories of her other than she was a wonderful cat!

L-R Sugar, Holly, Fonzie, Sassy

These were our dogs when we lived in Dallas! This photo was taken on the stairs in the condo where we lived after Jonathan died. That was such a hard time in our lives, and these four magnificent creatures gave us love and joy to help get us through.

Noel and Holly

This is the photo we used for your birth annoucement! Noel was given to my parents as a gift – they passed him along to me and Phil soon after we were living in Texas before you were born. We found Holly when we moved to Texas and they were our “children”! They were both pure-bred poodles – the woman who gave Noel to my parents raised show-dog poodles, and something about Noel’s teeth disqualified him for show, but we kept his show-dog grooming style for quite a while. This photo was taken by Phil for the birth announcement!