Today’s guest blogger is assistant editor Daniel Kessel.
Whenever I visit my parents’ house in New Jersey, the first one to greet me isn’t usually my mom or dad. It’s our dog, Cosita. The moment I walk through the door, Cosita runs up to me and nuzzles up against my ankles, the warmest greeting I could ask for.
If you’re a pet owner too, you know all about this special bond. Our pets seem to intuit our moods and anticipate our needs before we’ve even had a chance to pet them. To celebrate that intense spiritual connection, I’d like to share five stories about the incredible–often mysterious–ways pets can leave their mark on our lives.
1. Meant To Be Best Friends
Teenager Sam Sartain of Gainesville, Georgia, was adjusting to life with a prosthetic limb after an ATV accident. His family and friends were supportive, but no one could imagine what Sam, a lifelong athlete, was going through.
One day, Sam’s mom stumbled upon the Dachsund Rescue South Florida Facebook page and scrolled through the listings. There, she spotted Pooh, a rescue dog who had recently lost his right hind leg in a car accident. Because of his injury, no one wanted to take him home. But Sam’s mom knew he’d be the perfect companion for her son.
From the moment Sam and Pooh met, the two were inseperable. “He looked at me and he realized I guess that we had the same situation and he immediately ran over towards me,” Sam says.
2. The Cat at the Door
Managing Editor Adam Hunter had his own close encounter with the furry kind. Working late one night in his apartment, he heard a high-pitched sound in the hallway. A cat’s meow.
He opened his front door and discovered a black and white cat at his feet, staring up at him with wide eyes.
Who did she belong to? Where had she come from? Adam had no idea. But while he petted her and rubbed her belly, memories of Locket, his childhood cat, resurfaced.
Adam found out the next morning that it wasn’t just a coincidence that his feline visitor came to visit that particular evening…
3. Now That’s A Homing Pigeon
Eleven-year-old Tara Atkins of Montana City, Montana, was devastated when her pet pigeon, Foresta, went missing. Foresta had lived with the Atkins family ever since she was a baby bird, never venturing beyond their backyard. Tara feared that her pet was gone for good.
The next day at school, a teacher called Tara outside. “Don’t you own a pigeon?” he asked. They needed her expert help–a bird on the school’s premises was “dive-bombing” people trying to get inside. Looking up, Tara instantly recognized the blue band tied around the bird’s leg. Foresta!
Pigeons are well-known for their keen, otherworldly sense of direction. But how had Foresta, who’d never left home before, tracked her young owner down 15 miles away at school?
4. Wild Horse Heals a Broken Heart
For Jennifer Kirschenman of Eureka, South Dakota, there was something about that horse, a white paint colt. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Jennifer’s husband had taken her to purchase a horse of her own, something she’d always wanted.
She was in mourning for her Grandpa Pete, who’d passed away three months earlier. He hoped the horse would cheer her up.
As she stared at the different horses, the same one called out to her over and over–the white paint colt. Later, the horse trainer told her something about the horse that gave her chills…
5. A Whale of a Tale
While visiting her sister in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Eva Saulitis fell ill and was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. A passionate biologist, Eva had dedicated her life to studying whales in Alaska with her husband, Craig. If only she could be with Craig and their beloved whales now.
As she lay in bed, recuperating from chemo treatments in her sister’s house, she pictured herself on a kayak in Alaska. A dark, shiny shape glided in the water beside her. A whale’s fin. Just then, a surge of vitality seemed to travel through her body. It was more than a daydream–the vision became an important key to her recovery.
Have you ever shared a mysterious connection with a special animal? Share your story with us!
