Our life experiences cause us to react differently from others. Thus, no two people are the same. Our uniqueness just shows we are wired for our distinct reactions. I know others may feel I’ve gone overboard on my love for my new puppy, but those people are not me. So they don’t know.
I didn’t have children, and I never knew I had a maternal instinct until we took in a girl once. But she was taken away from us…over. and. over. again. I learned to love my dogs more in that time. They knew I needed them and they offered unconditional love. I leaned on them and showered them in myself.
But one became ill and the other grew old, and within one year I lost them both.
And the girl- she seems to fade out of our lives, little by little, like an out of focus image. Yet we always offer a place and room for her, and we cannot bring in another human that would make her feel she had lost her place with us.
So…a puppy, who is our child, fills our home with love, and brings us a joy we wish to be able to share with others who have holes in their hearts, even if in different shapes and sizes we do not know or understand.
You cannot discount someone else’s feelings if you have never felt what they feel.
caverns of my mind 