Family
I will say very little here about my human family out of respect for their privacy. You will find I speak very rarely of them. It's not that there is some “family crisis” or “traumatic event” that has occurred to cause a rift in my family. It's quite the opposite. My family loves me dearly. My mother is there for me when ever I need her. Though, she has times when she uses tough-love to make me stand on my own. Out of nine grandchildren, I'm the favorite grandchild. My grandmother tries very hard not to be partial. My grandfather has told me point-blank I'm his favorite. I know I will always have the love and support of my family no matter what I do. For these reasons, I honor their request for privacy.
I will say that within my family, I am closest to my pets. Yes, I do consider them apart of my family. They have not expressed any privacy issues that concern them, so I am free to introduce them. I have three dogs, a cat, and a fish.
Cricket: (Female, Dog)
A Jack Russell Terrier that belonged to my step-father before he married my mother. Well, techically she belonged to my step-father’s late wife. My step-father took care of her after his wife passed away. She is the oldest dog we have and without doubt the leader when the humans aren't around. She is the only pet we have that does not “belong” to me. She loves to go for car rides and looks forward to our evening walks in a nearby park. She's a slower walker both because of her advancing age and the fact that she broke all four of her legs when she was a puppy by running off a very high front porch. We are aware that she is over-weight. We put her on “diet” food, but since the dogs run free (we're in the country), she finds “food” elsewhere. It feels like a lost cause some times.
Miss Shia: (Female, Dog)
A Daschund / Chihuahua mix. I call her a Chi-Daschund. She was taken from the animal shelter the very day she arrived. It was the only day I ever volunteered there. She came in shivering. I held her in my lap for a while and she stopped. I talked my mother into letting me have her. She lived inside with me for years. I took her with me when I went off to school, but she wasn’t suited to an apartment life. I sent her back home to my family since she seemed so unhappy. (She didn’t like me to leave her in the apartment. She would bark and whine for hours.) My step-father put her outside in the yard (No leash laws.) Now she doesn’t like to stay inside at all. She goes to the door to be let back outside – unless it is raining or extremely cold. She is still the most skittish of the dogs and she hates to go for walks on the leash. She hates leashes in general. She normally chooses to stay home instead of going to walk in the park for that very reason.
Dixie: (Female, Dog)
I adopted her in September of 2007. My beloved Pekingese, Circe, had passed away and I wanted another “inside” dog for company. She is a Jack Russell Terrier / Chihuahua mix also taken from the animal shelter. She has turned out to be a bundle of energy. She still loves to chew things. For that reason, she is not suitable for an “inside” dog. She is the only animal I am required to take with me when I move out. It's been sixteen years since my step-father had to deal with a puppy. He seems to forget that they're like toddlers and can be messy. He loses patience with her for digging holes, chewing his shoes (which he shouldn’t leave outside), and tearing up the paper. She loves to jump around and she loves to be chased. She loves to run around the yard playing with a neighboring puppy or Spike (our cat). She also loves car rides and walking in the park.
Spike: (Female, Cat)
Spike was adopted in September of 2006. A roommate and I were looking for a cat and the vet only had one. She recommended we not take “him” because “he” was very wild. We actually did not find out that the cat was female until we took her in at six-months to have her spayed. She sucked on the tip her tail as a kitten and now has a white-tip on her tail. We jokingly say she sucked all the color out of it. She loves dogs. She grew up with my roommate's black lab puppy. She is Dixie's best friend and they often play together. She is an “inside/outside” cat and comes and goes as it suits her. She is my mother's special favorite. My mother has her horribly spoiled. It's odd for a cat, but she hates tuna-fish. It has to be chicken or she won't be satisfied.
Fish: (unknown, fish)
Fish is a black moor goldfish. He is actually Fish the third. He was adopted in August of 2008 from Pet Smart as a companion for my Koi Fish (Koi). I didn't have the tank space for a larger fish or I would have gotten another Koi fish. Fish did not respond well to being in the tank with Koi, though Koi seemed to enjoy the company. As a result, my beloved Koi was donated to the Koi fish pond at a local museum where he has plenty of room, plenty of company, and I can visit him whenever the museum is open. Fish III now has the tank to himself. He is very friendly and follows me when ever I get close to the tank. I am considering getting him a companion goldfish of similar size.