My Mom and Pets

A conversation with my Mom as to why pets weren't allowed in our house

I can still remember to this day, how as a child, of how I yearned to have my own pet. Actually, being more precise, a dog. I was so angry, and sad that we were not allowed to have a pet of any kind. I yearned for my own dog so badly, and dreamt constantly of that day my Mom would finally break down, and say, “Yes Mijita, you can have a dog”.

When I was seven I came really close. A friend from school had a dog which had puppies and so I brought one home. My thinking was, “once Mamma sees this adorable puppy, how could she say no?”, boy was I wrong. She not only said "NO", but threw in, "Absolutely Not!", and made me take it back. So it was that I had to wait until I became an adult before I could have my first pet, which of course was a dog.

Over the years there were many more dogs following that first one. As a matter of fact, through a twenty year period, I had between 4-6 dogs at one time! I was in pure heaven. One afternoon while enjoying my little pack, a question began to form, “Why did my Mom not like pets?", and "How could someone not love these babies!”. It was a question I would have to remember to ask her. Unfortunately I would have to wait until the following year, as I lived in California and my Mom lived in a little town about 3 hours South of Anchorage Alaska, called Kenai. I guess I could have asked her over the phone, and gotten a quick answer, but her expressions were always priceless while describing anything. At that point I figured, I've waited this long, what's a little longer?

Not long before my trip, I was given the news that my Mom was in the early stages of Alzheimers. This made my trip even more important than ever. I had a new camcorder, and I knew before her memory was completely gone, I needed to get as much footage of her as possible. My goal was to film her telling of her childhood, her family history, our family history, and most important, why she didn't want pets. I packed my camcorder, hopped a plane, and off I went to visit her.

In Kenai

After a couple of days with my Mom, I shared with her that I would like to film her. When she heard this, she couldn't wait, and was ready to jump right into what she immediately named "Her Interview”. I knew my Mom was never shy about being the center of attention, but hadn't realized just how much so until after finishing “ Her Interview”.

Since the kitchen was always her favorite room in the house, I decided to set up my camera on a tripod facing the kitchen table. Once I was all setup, I asked her to sit down in her chair, one I had prepared for her. She brought with her a cup of coffee, sat, and proceeded to spend several minutes arranging her cup on the table. Handle facing her, handle away, to close, to far, more to the right, more to the left, she had to have it be “just right” for "Her Interview”. Finally satisfied, she pointed to the cup, and asked me, “Mijita, does this look good?”. With a big smile, I let her know it was perfect.

After the coffee cup was set to her satisfaction, she then proceeded to arrange herself in her chair. She smoothed out her “muumuu” (it's a Hawaiian dress which she wore most of the time), and changed positions several times until she felt comfortable. When done, in what she felt gave her best presence, she then rested her right elbow, forearm, and hand on the table in front of herself. She wasn't done. Very precisely, she then brought her left hand up to her resting right hand, and intertwined her fingers. With her hands now clasped on the edge of the table, and posed, she turned to me and asked, “Do I look good?”. She looked so cute and serious! At that point, my soul was smiling. I told her, "Mamma, you look wonderful.".

My older brother decided to join us and sat on the sofa behind me. I hit the record button on my camcorder, and proceeded to ask her questions:

Me: So Mom, what can you tell me about your childhood?

Mom: Well, I'm the oldest of a bunch of kids. There were 12 of us, 5 boys and 7 girls, all born about 1 to 2 years apart. One of the girls died when she was about 3 years old. Her name was Virginia and she was a year younger than me. Mamma said she got sick.

Me: What was it like for you as a kid?

Mom: Well, we were pretty poor. When I was real little my Dad was a sheep herder and worked for his family on their farm. They had a lot of sheep. We lived out in the country, so sometimes, when he went into town he would take me with him. I was the only one he would take with him, (she had a big smile when she said this). I was about 3 or 4 and loved riding on the horse drawn wagon with my Dad, just him and me. Later he worked in the Silver Mines up in Silverton, from then on, he was gone a lot so I didn't get to spend time with him alone anymore."

At this point, my Mom reached her hand and lifting up her cup, took a sip of her coffee. All of this was done ever so slowly, and with her pinky finger pointing up. It was just like she'd seen in the movies. When finished she then again very slowly set the cup back down, and asked, “Was that good?” Confirming her “acting” was ok, I laughed and let her know that it was great, and I wanted her to just be herself. Now I realize, she was.

She went on and spoke of many events in her family, of my five siblings and I as kids, and a lot of other things that happened in her life. Then I remembered that old nagging question, “Why didn't my Mom like pets?” and decided to ask her.

Me: Mom, for as long as I can remember you have never liked pets and wouldn't let any of us kids have one. I can't ever remember you or any of your brothers or sisters ever talking about having pets either. You didn't ever have any when you were a kid? No dogs, cats, anything? Why was that?"

Mom: "Oh, let me tell you "
(I might mention, at hearing this question, she became very animated and sat straight up in her chair, forgetting the pose and raising one hand up, pointed her finger at me),
"Well, it was on one of the trips with my Dad into town. He had left me sitting in the wagon for a bit while he went into the store to get something. When he returned, he had something wrapped in a blanket. It wasn't very big and when he handed it to me, he said, 'Mira, mijita, te traje algo especial' (look my daughter, I bought you something special).
He put this bundle in my arms and I gently pulled back a part of the blanket to see what was inside."

(My Mom began demonstrating by folding her arms as though cradling a baby and started pulling back the invisible blanket)

"Inside was wrapped this white fluffy kitten! It had LONG white hair! I took one look at this kitten and"

(at this point, she threw her hands in the air and began making loud gagging sounds, like she was going to vomit! With her nose wrinkled, and a look of total disgust on her face, she then raised her voice higher, saying)

"I began gagging and wanted to throw up!"

(Just as quickly, she immediately calmed back down and very calmly stated in a matter of fact manner)

"So since then, I didn't want anything to do with any kind of animal!"

My Mom then slowly, with pinky in the air, took another sip of her coffee.

Both my brother and I could not stop laughing.

Well that was all there was to it! No pets in my childhood because of a white fluffy kitten! I can't help but wonder, "what if my grandfather had just given her a cute cuddly puppy instead?".