A Mother's Day Plot Twist I Never Saw Coming

Sunday started with a bang, well more a paw to the face. The minute any tiny ray of light shines into the house, my two furry, little alarm clocks wake up and Bella, being the oldest and the only one who loves to use the stairs to climb onto the bed, gets the regular duty of ensuring I know it is time to start the day. Basically this consists of pawing my head until I open my eyes. Needless to say, receiving a husky/shepherd paw to the head makes you get up pretty quick. Being Mother's Day though, I wanted to savor the comfiness of the bed and snuggle with my "kids." As they pranced around, rolled on their backs for belly rubs, gave enthusiastic kisses and genuinely couldn't sit still with the anticipation of the start of the day, it hit me that no matter what happened yesterday or what hardships their past's hold, every single morning starts in pure happiness and excitement of all the adventures the day will bring.  And as much as this day was about celebrating what I've brought to their lives as their guardian, I was struck by all that they have taught me and brought into my life and in particular this lesson of starting each day anew. We have so many wonderful things to do every day like learning to cook a new recipe, coming up with a great, new idea at work, volunteering at a local shelter or, in the case of my guys, digging a super, awesome 2 foot deep hole in the back yard. We can't let the bad stuff suck us down into the mud, it just makes less time for those things that really matter. That doesn't mean we forget what we have seen and done or the lessons we have learned. We just choose to utilize them to make things better for us and all those around us. So, even though yesterday day was Mother's Day, I would like to thank them for the honor of getting to be their Human Mom and getting to benefit from the wisdom they have to share with me.

So who exactly are these dogs that inspired such deep thoughts? Meet Max and Bella.

Max is an almost 3 year old sato (slang for street dog) shepherd mix born in Puerto Rico.

Bella is a 3 1/2 year old husky/shepherd mix found on the streets of Miami.

Do you have a lesson that your animals have taught you?