(#5382) My pets are my children!

      I have been a single man my entire life so there is no wife nor children that are in my past. However I have had pets since the early nineties. So for over 30 years I have had a dog or cat or multiple of those in my life for the duration of theirs. They have always had a home with me from the time they came into my life until the time when they passed on with one exception. I had a feral cat named Betsy who after several years and the untimely death of her sibling brother Artie, left her home with me and never returned. It is still one of the saddest episodes in my life not being able to find Betsy although after more than 3 years now I still hope for her return.
     But all my other little children have stayed with me and been my constant companions. I have Billy, who is now over 13 years old, a small long haired Chihuahua who stole my heart the first moment I laid eyes on him at the dog pound. Then there is Jimi my mix terrier, a street foundling, who has a shyness to him that to this day some 8 plus years later is still his modus operandi. I also have my cats Arthur and Loretta who are middle aged and home bodies for the most part. Before them and first with me was Carson. My Carson was a cattle dog, blue heeler mix who was my buddy for 11 plus years when I found him in a litter at a home I was visiting.
     My dog Carson and I were always together as I was working as a framer and could take him to job sites during my workdays. Eventually I added Carter to our family, a long haired feral kitty, who spent 13 plus years with me until his untimely demise. Life is like that. We protect our children, human or not but life still has other designs. Anyway, all my pets over the years have held a part of my heart and although their passing has been hard to take I would never trade the joy they brought to me in abundance. I hope to live long enough for none of my pets to be left without me but life is what it is and we muster along to enjoy them each day as we live from our hearts.