Childhood Pet

Meg's Prompt: First childhood pet...
I remember not having pets at all until my parents divorced and my dad met my stepmother. My stepmom had 3 children of her own, Mike, Jimmy & Becky and they all had pets. Becky had a cat named Tiger, they had a rabbit named Fire Eyes (who had just had bunnies the day I walked into their home for the first time). They had a St. Bernard named George - biggest dog I had ever seen and Jimmy had a turantula and an alligator (Yes, I'm being sincere - he even stuck a piece of paper in the cage and the alligator bit it and I was offered an "autograph"!) I remember his room being pretty rank smelling too!

But that was not the question... Ok, so there's a reason I included all that information... I was such a nurturer even as a little girl. I loved my babies... babies of any kind. I loved my stuffed animals as much as my baby dolls - I remember dreaming about stuffed animals I loved them so much. Since I was never allowed any real animals and I was in the throws of coping with the divorce of my parents, the "animal house" environment of my new family suited me very well. My first pet came into that home in the form of a guinea pig named Tubsy. About a year after my parents divorced my Mom moved us from Maryland to Florida. I hated it. Hated being away from my Father and my Grandparents. My Mom even tried the animal thing and got a Lapso Apso that we named "Poshy". (In retrospect, that's pretty amazing that she did that now that I think about it).

Back to Tubsy. He was so cute. Boy, did I love LOVE that guinea pig! He would sit on my bed and eat lettuce or carrots and he's squeak and we'd talk. Living there with my step-family was hard. I felt so much like an outsider and having my own pet gave me a sense of belonging. Saturday mornings were cage cleaning day - fun, fun. For some reason I remember saturday mornings as a real family time. Thanks Meg for sending me back in time :). What a crazy life.