What’s Not to Love on These Beautiful Days

Yes, here I am on a gorgeous October day in northern Ohio. But I have been so, so busy –like a little pinwheel spinning in a windstorm. My Mam says she might ask that I be put on payroll. Seriously. What would Light of Hearts do without me? By the time I meet with the maintenance men as they arrive and then give a pep talk to the laundry folks and kitchen employees followed by visits to the residents, I’m nearly wiped out. I have to get my playtime and my walk in by midafternoon and then it’s supper.

But I love my work. Which takes me to the questions I will try and answer for a few friends who have contacted me. Rex, the retriever, Kit, the cat, Tubby, the turtle, are among the many who have asked: How can I be a more loving, happy pet for my owner who’s so sullen over the current political environment? I say: Be yourself. Rex, wag that tail like a windshield wiper at full speed; grab your leash and insist on a walk. Nothing like fresh air to circulate the blood and make a human happy, to make him forget the verbal lacerations of political rhetoric. Kit, jump on your owner’s lap and purr like a 302 Mustang, soft and consistent, packed with love. Tubby, when your owner appears, stick your neck out. Be stronger than the weak-spined political figures clogging our airwaves. Get out of your shell and kick up the dried grass in your cage and jump into your pool. Make a splash; you are happy to see your human. I say happiness is innate in all animals, but we are on a mission to make our humans happy at this ugly period of time. I’m told the catechism says: “God made me to know him, love him, serve him and to be happy in this world and in the next.” If nothing makes your human happy now, you can be the one to try. I guarantee success!!

We dogs are so lucky. Not since Lassie landed her first movie contract have we been so celebrated for what we can do for humans. Take for instance Freddie, a sleek Italian Greyhound which Anna Heyward found in a shelter and immediately rescued. Freddie was not without problems; he was emotionally damaged and suffered from a severe form of anxiety howling, scratching, biting his tail. Heyward’s book, Living with Freddie is a story of how the dog and his human each learned from the other to face and handle their anxieties together, because “the animal lovingly exists to teach the author some profound and much-needed lessons: how to live in the moment; how to emotionally heal; how to love unconditionally; how to accept death.” Believe it or not, Freddie taught Heyward “how to be human.” So, Heyward wrote about the experience of learning from Freddie how to love, including humans, and how to handle her own emotional problems. The book enjoys being on The New York Times best seller list and was reviewed in the October 11 issue of The New York Times Book Review.

Then comes Etna by Paul Yoon, a hugely popular best-seller which is quite literary and heaping with pathos told by the dog himself. Etna is a former military dog who is lost and travels through war-ruined landscapes to find his home. The narrative is said to be “devastating” and “hypnotic.” It is a story about never giving up and the power of hope. Etna was conscripted from a litter on a farm managed by a loving couple. The need for dogs to serve in battle was overwhelming at the time and Etna becomes highly trained to detect toxins hidden by the enemy. When he leaves the soldiers with whom he worked for some time, Etna’s life becomes a journey of facing other toxins: the suffering of humans and animals, the search for the permanence of home and belonging, the bitterness of rejection and inhumane treatment.

So, you see, all animals have special bonds with their humans, and I can attest to that. I love to be happy with my human friends. Lately some of my humans have been leaving little presents for me (check the picture in this blog) and I intend to dress in a costume for Halloween when children of employees and grandchildren of residents come for trick or treat. I simply cannot wait.

Mam and I have daily talks, usually after my breakfast so it will digest properly as she says. She tells me that I’m a creature loved by God who watches over me like He does the sparrows in the fields. She says I have a responsibility to love all the humans I meet and all the animals I befriend and she says I need to share that with you my faithful readers. I really do this where I live and where Mam and I hike in the woods. We talk to the rabbits and deer and ground hogs, the birds, and fish in the creek. I talk to all the people at our senior residence to make them feel good. So, I’m telling all of you, my animal buddies, to spread the joy and happiness of simply being a creature of God. One of my Mam’s favorite quotes about dogs is, “The soul of a dog is its faithfulness, its friendship, its comfort.” She tells me I have a soul, and I will see God someday and that makes me squirm with joy in her arms.

Reflection

What can I learn from an animal or any animal instincts? Can I submerge the anger and frustration my life or in the political environment surrounding me by surrendering to the simple, innocent invitation an animal offers to me from its love and attentiveness? Jon Katz has written, “…dogs do good, letting their humans live rather than telling them how.”

Lily is ready now to sit at my feet and simply ‘be’ after a day of helping and loving others, but she wants your mail to continue coming so she can help you as well.

Quotes from The New York Times Book Review, October 11, 2026.

Jon Katz, Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm, Random House, 2010.