Here is our beloved dog, Tiki. I hate to call her a dog. She is more people than canine and one of my best friends. Always chipper, never moody, almost always obedient, willing to cuddle at any given moment, never demanding, I have few companions like her.

What is surprising about our relationship is that everyone who knows me knows that I am a cat person. And I have one of those critters too, slinking around the house. I just love furry felines. I love their independence, beauty, stealth, nimbleness, and “drop dead” attitudes. In ancient times, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten that!

No I do not worship dogs or cats, but I have found my Cypriot poodle to be more like a buddy than my cat… for sure. And I have found myself gravitating to my dog more than my cat. She just gives back more. It is just a shame, though, that dogs don’t purr. That is a sweet gift God bestowed on cats, big and small.

Tiki goes to the groomer monthly, and she has her nails manicured and polished along with her bath, trimming, and toothbrushing. Yes, I know it sounds like a I need another child to dote on… and maybe I do. I am waiting for grandchildren.

But when my daughter saw our Tiki’s manicured and polished paws for the first time, she exclaimed, “Mom, you made her look like “sugar plum fairy road kill.”

My husband and I still laugh so hard at that colorful description of our dog’s beauty treatments and polished nails and bows.

Dogs and cats aside, what I am thinking now is that there are more expressive and descriptive words that need to come out… that need to make stories… There is a creative writer deep in the heart of my daughter, able to express with succinct clarity, color, and flair an opinion on any given situation.

And you better believe, I am nurturing that creative seed with prayer, encouragement, and eagerness…

It is so hard for me not to give her “writing assignments.” But that would be over-kill!