Woman’s Best Friend

Pets have been by our side through it all. Pandemic or not, they ground us.

I happen to have cats at the moment, but I am a lover of all. Growing up on a farm, I was of course immersed in taking care of animals and livestock. We had cattle, horses, pigs, goats, chickens, dogs, cats…there was never a dull moment. Although I ended up in the apparel industry, I had a dream of being a veterinarian when I was a kid. For me, I couldn’t imagine not having a pet by my side.

Two dogs growing up that I will never forget. There was Max, a 130 lb. Rottweiler and JoJo, a 9 lb. Maltese who never left my side. There was Lucky, the horse I learned how to ride on and Buddy, the horse I spent hours riding everyday through an open pasture.

Once I was on my own, I never really felt alone with my two farm kittens Conan and Beamer who hit the road with me. From Iowa to Idaho to New York, they were with our family every step of the way. They were with me during every movie night, boyfriend, stressed out moment and sickness. When I was pregnant with all of my kids, they would lay on my belly and purr as loud as possible. My kids knew Conan and Beamer before they were even born.

On New Year’s Eve 2020, Conan waited for our family to get home from a trip before he passed away. They are connected to us and us to them. His brother, Beamer, was heartbroken, so we recently adopted two tuxedo kittens. Emily and Domino (AKA Emi Lou and D…funny how they get their own nicknames eventually) Beamer at the ripe old age of 16 1/2 is hard of hearing, apparently has dementia, and is going with the flow. He’s basically a pissed off old man.

Emily and Domino are now my office buddies and have made their presence known in a few of my Teams meetings.

Even if you’re a little stressed out on a Friday night at your home office like the video below, a pet can lighten the mood. It helps to sing monster ballads from Rock of Ages too.