High Plains Blogger readers likely know already of the word-pairing I announced long ago when I declared I never would write the words “President” and “Trump” consecutively … and please note that I avoided doing so in this sentence.
Here’s another pair of words you won’t see from me when referring to pets that are part of my family. They are “pet” and “owner.”
Here’s the deal. Pets, be the cats or dogs, become members of my family. Therefore, I don’t “own” them any more than I own my sons. My bride, Kathy Anne, and I brought two baby boys into this world in the 1970s and they have grown into the two finest men I know. I don’t own either of ’em.
Therefore, I don’t own Sabol, the pooch who joined my family when I returned from vacation in September. She is the second puppy who became a member of my family. I lost Toby the Puppy in December 2023 to illness. Then, Sabol came along and, oh brother, she is a fantastic addition to my household.
I have two grandpuppies, Ryder and Dak, and two grandkitties, Macy and Marlowe. Obviously, I don’t own the puppies, either, as they live with my son, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter. Macy and Marlowe moved in with me when my other son arrived in the spring of 2023.
My bride and I considered ourselves to be more drawn to cats than dogs for many years. We had many cats in our home over the 51-year span of our marriage. We had two of them in Amarillo; we had a calico who joined us in Portland in 1982, then moved with us to Beaumont and then to Amarillo. We were parents to several kitties prior to the calico in Portland.
We tried parenting a couple of pooches during all those years, but they didn’t work out.
Am I being sappy with this blog message about how I use the English language? Sure, I am. So what? Just live with it.
Don’t ever expect to me say I “own” a furry family member.