So I spent the most gorgeous Easter Sunday in New York's Central Park with my most lovely English friend Andrew. He and I had originally planned to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art -- but then it was just so beautiful we decided to go to the Park instead. So, we walked up to the 100th Street West entrance, which is by far one of my most favorite places in the whole of the park. This area, modeled on the Appalachian Trail, complete with trails through the beautiful North Woods and a small pond with plenty of outlining benches, is one of the entrances that few tourists know about and really where Upper West Side residents go to relax, rejuvenate, play with their children and walk their dogs!
All of you who know me well know that I am DOG OBSESSED! I come from a childhood full of animals: dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, chicks, hamsters -- you name it, I've had it! For me it is simply inconceivable to live without a pet and it wasn't even into my second year in NYC when I got my first 2 kitties. When Lilybelle, my most beautiful lady of a kitty, passed in 2007, I promptly adopted Paris Kitty 7 months later! And this year I've made a goal to have a dog by 2012! In fact, I want a Ruby Coated Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, with a big red bow on her neck, named Millie! Until then, I gush like a woman who wants a child every time I see a dog! It's really a bit sickening.
So there Andrew and I are chatting it up about the dogs (there were SO many cute ones out today!) and he tells me he has never had an animal! I nearly fell over! How could that be possible??! Andrew is a lovely chap -- and well I just associate all lovely people with animals! In fact, usually when I meet a person I'm not so keen on, come to find out they usually don't like animals -- and I dare say, not having an animal as a pet leads to misery! I bet you 1 million dollars that terrorists have never had pets! I can't even try to write one word for the blog without Paris draped across my lap! but here was Andrew, totally likable and lovely, who had never had a pet -- and as it stands, it seems he has no intention of getting one. And further, he is totally OK with that! He is not gushing one little bit over OPP (other people's pets!).
This bit of information seriously befuddled me. How could it be that there exists a totally lovely person with no relationship to a pet? Then I realized that actually this could all be explained by the "The Exception Rule" which states clearly that "There is always an exception to every Rule." And well, Andrew is the exception to the "A Pet Is A Must For Happiness" Rule. So he gets a "pass" and he can still be my friend.
This said, please know that rules are not based on exceptions -- therefore I still state my case that if there were any one thing that you could do to immediately increase World Happiness it would be to raise a pet. The bond an animal makes with us can not be reduced into words and the effects are beyond measure -- and can not be imitated even by the love of another human. In fact I have never met a person who had a pet who wouldn't absolutely attest to their necessity for sanity!
Who can replace the quiet comfort of my Paris, who in all her celibri-cat majesty, will drape across my lap languorously and purr to her heart's content as I type away? Who will wait up for me to go to bed by covering her eyes with her paws to shade from the light instead of moving to a darker room, or faithfully wake me up in the morning with a soft pat of her paw upon my cheek, or if I am sleeping too too deeply, with use her little claws to make the most effectively annoying pricking sound upon my blanket?! Her small gestures more than make up for her fur balls I must avidly vacuum and remove from my clothes, her litter box I must faithfully clean -- she may not be a dog (and boy does she ever glare when I even mention the word "dog"), but she is the spirit of my abode, which, without her would surely only be a landing pad, and not a home. She is God's way to remind me how simple love can be.
So stop making excuses. You'll find the time. You'll find the money. Go adopt a pet in need now and know that the love and bond that you receive will more than account for the sacrifices and changes to your schedule, budget, time and lifestyle that you will make!
In fact, go right here to look for your companion now -- or visit your local shelter to save a companion who desperately needs your help from meeting an inevitable end.
Meow!
Madame B.
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