Why I’m Grateful for Pets

As we close in on Thanksgiving 2023, I am pausing to reflect on the many blessings in my life. I am most grateful for my amazing wife, who is the absolute love of my life. Every day with her is a blessing.

Aside from my wife, I am eternally grateful for my rescue dog Snickers.

Snickers is my constant loyal companion. She will be at my feet while I enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with family, and happily by my side while we walk off those carbs. At night she will curl up between my wife and I, content to be a guest in a different house so long as she is next to us.

Snickers makes the hard days easier. Whether I am sick, sad or stressed, she is with me in the present moment. She flexes her energy to mine, licking away tears and patiently waiting for me to finish just one more edit. She is unbridled joy when I return home, and the joy she shares with me can erase hours of stress from a long day of photo shoots.

She supports my health journey when she is able to join me on walks through our suburban Minneapolis neighborhood. I see the sugar face and the stiff joints and admire her for wanting to walk with me when she can. It’s another reminder to slow down, take in the present, and enjoy Snickers whenever I can. Sadly her yesterdays outnumber her tomorrows.

She forces me to think beyond myself. Now more than ever, she needs care and attention. I want her later years with us to be happy and as healthy as possible. That means taking time to play, to be, to love, even when (espcially when) I’m busy with photo shoots of other pets or marathon editing sessions. She gives us all of herself and deserves nothing less in return.

To love a dog is to understand unbridled joy, loyal companionship and unconditional love.

And for that I am truly grateful.

Thank you Snickers, for sharing yourself with us.