Well, Rachel, it's not exactly true that we weren't an animal loving family. You just weren't around to understand the reason why we didn't have pets as you were growing up.
You see, it started one day about 3 or 4 months after your father and I got married. We were out one Sunday afternoon at a shopping center just outside of Louisville, Kentucky, when we came upon a little boy with three little puppies in a box. Your father commented that they were very cute. The boy asked him if he wanted one. I pulled your father into the store. When we came out, the boy and his puppies were still there. The little boy told us that if he didn't give them away, his mother was going to take them to the animal shelter and they would meet a not so kind fate. Your father looked at me with eyes as sad as the little boy's and as the puppies' and what could I do?
We took the little puppy home and within a very short time he tried to attack one of the neighbor's 30-some cats. The cat was bigger than he and although he suffered no injuries, we decided that he had to stay inside. However, from that encounter he gained the name "Atrocious Ferocious."
He was a very smart little pup and in one day he learned which parts of the house he could go into and which parts he couldn't. However he did cry at night and your father would get up with him and take him outside. Still, the crying didn't please me and the puppy was a lot of work and I finally told your father that he had a choice: Animals or children.
Well, the rest is history. Atrocious Ferocious was adopted by a family who loved him deeply. He grew and flourished. And we had children. All in all, I think it was a wise decision.
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