My family dynamics played a significant role in my love of animals. My father grew up on a farm and had a wealth of knowledge concerning animals, both domestic and wild, which he shared with me. My mother, who was physically disabled by the time I was ten years old, taught me the value of having a pet companion to help to elevate stress. Also, I have a sister, although we are far enough apart in age that we both grew up as children without siblings. With my sister so far ahead of me in years, my parents nullified my loneliness by providing me with a wide variety of pets.
As a child, I enjoyed caring for and learning from my birds, monkeys, turtles, horses, and dogs. I did not have any cat pets until I was an adult. As an adult, I fell in love with cats and learned a whole new set of lessons from these babies. But as a child, I had lots of dogs—I had big dogs, and little dogs, I had mutts and pure breeds. Each was more than a pet to me; they were my family… a brother or a sister.
I grew up believing that pets were more than dumb animals to care for; they were living things that I counted on. College led me into the field of psychology. My involvement in this field provided me with the opportunity to work for twenty-five years with hospice patients, Alzheimer's patients, and abused children. Ultimately, this work led me to operate a nonprofit organization that focuses on educating children to have a voice against their abuser.