My Pet History

By this title, I do not mean that I have a pet named History, although, I think that would quite the clever appellation. I would like to write some about my personal history with regards to pet experiences. If you are wondering why this is important, or how I decided to address this matter, I can only say that finals have a way of making you think about anything else but the subject matter at hand.

I will begin with my first pet, "Mousey." Although he was stuffed, and had an issue with displaying emotions, I was closer to him than any other pets. Whereas some children cling to blankets, others to their thumbs, and still others to both simultaneously, I had a cloth diaper wearing, stuffed mouse. He was very cute as I am sure you could imagine.

Dating back to my pre-school years, I have a number of distinct memories of this friend of mine. I remember a play-date with a friend when we threw Mousey down a flight of stairs and had to perform major emergency surgery. Luckily he had a full recovery within minutes. I remember losing him a lot and feeling anxiety over his absence. It was my father's job to find him when this occurred. He still remembers this post.

Then one day came when I lost him, and he was no where to be find. (no, not even behind the couch - but I did find 38 cents and a tangy taffy) I felt awful.

Then one day, maybe some months later, I was in the Nanuet mall with my mom and we passed a Hallmark. There, sitting on a shelf with 11 identical clones, sat mousey and either his family or a troupe of impostors. I was excited and I asked my mom to buy it for me (I wasn't employed then). She said no.

My mom used to ask me why I don't understand the word "no. It wasn't that I didn't understand it. I did. I even used it regularly myself. I just never believed "No" had any permanence when tried more than three times tops. My mom couldn't say no to me. I was the youngest and a cute kid to boot. But time, for some reason, I didn't push it. We passed the hallmark window and continued to the Macy's woman's shoes section. ( I would play with the disposable nylon mini stockings. If you haven't tried it yet, you must.)

I think, as a five year old, I felt the feeling of readiness to move on. Interesting, how this quality is one that I still have trouble acting upon today. But it's certainly important. People can spend decades of their lives looking back, cognitively living at a different, usually negative time.

I still have good good memories of Mousey, but now I have bigger and better dolls. My roommate and I got a tremendous stuffed dog, Little Spoon. He's got tons of personality, and is housebroken.

Don't look back,

Elliot

Stay tuned for next pet post - Mellow Yellow, the acrobatic Parakeet.