No doubt about it. Times Are Hard.

I think almost everyone I know is struggling right now, in some aspect of their lives. Worry and fear, financial challenges, illness and injury, depression and even despair…. I find myself sending love and light to friends far and near, every single day. I find myself grateful, always, for the love and light sent my way, as well.

Those of us who have animals in our lives are both doubly challenged, and triply blessed.

The extra challenges have to do with things like the rising cost of vet care, the difficulty getting veterinary appointments, the challenges of keeping our animals’ environments safe, warm, and comfortable, the rising cost of quality pet food and supplies. Those who rescue are finding added stress as well, as animals are released to shelters by families who can no longer care for them, or … worse yet … abandoned. More animals to rescue plus higher costs to do so equals “times are hard”.

But those triple blessings? They make it all worth it. How many times a day do I hear myself say to one of my pets, “I don’t know what I’d do without you”? Yes, they frequently throw extra challenges in my path, but the comfort and love they bring to my world are priceless.

When we are worried or depressed, can anything bring a smile to our heart like a dog bringing us a toy to play with, or a cat curling up in our laps or sending us love-blinks from across the room? Is there anything quite like that welcoming nicker when we are heading to the horse barn to spend time with our equine friends?

Not long ago, I woke with a black cloud hanging over my head. I really didn’t want to get out of bed, but having animals, there’s no option to sleep in. I went out into the den, and as I walked past the starlings’ aviary, I heard a quiet little voice say, “Who’s Mommy’s baby bird?”

It was Jingle, who rarely talks. Jingle and Tidbit came along the last year I actively rehabbed. They are now ten years old. Since I held hope at first that they might be releasable, I kept them separate from the family. In another room, they only heard my others talking from a distance and through a closed door. They both can talk, mimicking things they could hear the other birds saying. It’s rare when they do, however, and when they do, it’s usually a few words mingled in with a variety of normal starling sounds.  I catch their words as background noise while I’m doing things like washing dishes. When they speak, they do it so softly that it sounds like it’s coming from the next room. It’s quite the ventriloquist act. But there was Jingle, while I was right beside him, talking … to me.

Who’s Mommy’s baby bird? You are, Jingle. You took my dark cloud, put a ray of sunshine behind it, and I smiled on and off all that day.

Our animal friends so often do things like this. Little acts of comfort, of kindness. They feel an instinctive nudge that something is wrong with their person, and they try to make it better. Everyone who has been blessed with non-human family members for any length of time can tell stories of special moments of connection that, for a little while, made everything okay again.

I’m sure everyone reading this can relate when I say to Kira, Magic, Jingle, TidBit, Star, Kestrel, and to all of my past pets as well: “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”