Excerpt: Pawprints on Your Heart

Do you ever wonder about how animals affect you and your life? How much of what you do or enjoy is influenced by the pets who come and go out of your life? Growing up I have always had some animal or another in my life. Only for very, very short periods of time have I not had one pet or another in my life.
As I look back on my life, so many stories are influenced by whichever pet or wild animal that was involved with my life at that time. Pets have always been pets that stay for long periods of time, but the wild animals make life more interesting. Growing up around animals has made them very important in my life. Without animals, life can be very lonely. The unconditional love makes me feel so important.
At this time, I am blessed by three wonderful felines who share my life and keep me sane. Each one has his or her own personality and story to share. Two of my cats are young females who are sisters. They were a part of a litter of three kittens born to a young stray adopted by a friend of mine. My friend was going to keep one kitten and I was taking only one (a solid black kitten) and then that left only one kitten without a home. When it came time for me to take my kitten home, my friend asked me if I could take a second one home because her family would not let her keep both of the remaining kittens. I agreed and came home with two small bundles of energy. My mother and I had started a habit of naming all our current cats with Scottish related names.