The other day a friend dropped by and we decided to have an iced tea on the patio. As I put the glasses on the tray to take outside, I opened a drawer where we keep napkins and grabbed a couple that matched the color of the glasses. My friend said: “Why do you have napkins with dog bones on them?!  There were some with different cats on them too!”  I think she thought that qualified me for the funny farm or something.

Truth is, pets are such a part of our family we talk about them all the time. We have mugs with dogs on them, the kids have milk glasses with cats painted on them. We have aprons and t-shirts and sox with pets on them. The den has cross-stitched pictures of ducks on the walls and duck decoys on the book shelf. There’s a heavy black Scottie-dog door stop by the front door. He has a name too – Barney. The princess has stuffed dogs all over her bed. There’s sheet music for “How Much Is That Doggie in The Window?” on the piano. There are knick-knacks, salt and pepper shakers, pop corn bowls and cookie jars of dogs or cats. I could go on and on. Almost every picture frame has a person with a cat, dog or horse. And yes, we have paper napkins with cats and dog bones on them! It’s because pets are part of our family!  10-26-14