Grateful for My Companion Animal

I woke today to this face. Again. Too early for me.  But he’s getting older and needs to go out more often.

This is Pepper.  My family and I adopted him 12+ years ago.  I found him on the internet.  When my husband and son went to pick him up from the adoption place they did so with my instructions to not come home without him.  He had some behavioral issues.  We slowly worked through them although his separation anxiety remains an issue.  He was approximately 9 years old when my husband and I divorced.  When I moved from the family farm to a small apartment I chose to leave him there because I thought it might be cruel to move him from the only home he’d ever known.  He had room to run and play.  There were other animals there to interact with.  Instead, his anxiety issues grew worse…