Mother's Day

My mother loved my dogs.  She did not grow up with animals and came to being owned by dogs reluctantly.  But like anyone converted to a new religion, she embraced being owned by a dog with fervor.  A small, protective miniature Schnauzer named Kelly became her dog, not the family dog!

Of these three, she never got a chance to meet Willa.  I do remember her rushing over to my house the morning after Sage arrived from Maryland and insisting on holding Annie Oakley the morning after arriving from the same place.  One of my favorite pictures of her is Murphy, a rather large Yellow lab, laying on her lap during one of of last road trips to Sun Valley together.

Like everything else dogs do, they bring out the maternal in us.  They remind us of those things mother's do for us: unconditional love, devotion, sympathy, empathy, and unbounded joy in life.

Happy Mother's Day!