Often, I think of Hooker’s Horde as the animals with whom I am blessed to share a home at that time. But, I think that as the human or the hu-mom, my role is bigger. I am a part of the Horde.

When I grieve, they sense my sadness.

When people enter and leave my life, it impacts them, to some degree.

When I am moving forward, practicing The Rules of Life, from Gonzales’ Surviving Survival, they move with me.

One rule, “Get the small picture,” requires me to “find one thing each day to possess as your own and to feel good about. Then try finding two.” While I don’t possesses the horde, they require me to get up, get out of bed, make breakfast, clean up poop, walk, and interact with my neighbors.  

Dogs make it easy to stay socially connected. I’ve found that walking in my neighborhood, we know each other’s dogs before we know each other. On Facebook, I have many friends simply because of the dogs.

How many books an advice columns recommend listing the things for which we are grateful? Well, it’s easy to write Faith, Booker, Gus, and Maude each day.

However, I think it is time to recognize my role as a member of this pack, this horde.

ani