unconditional love

i don't know if anyone watches "confessions of a matchmaker," but i do from time to time and last week there was a woman featured who owned lots of birds, cats, and sugargliders (is that one word or two?). patti (the matchmaker) accused her of creating a "surrogate family" with these animals because she had so often been let down in relationships, and said that she was filling a void with them. the woman admitted that this was, most likely, the case. now i'm not crazy; i recognize that in extreme cases this could absolutely be a problem, but it's just true that animals love you in a way in which people are simply not capable, save for maybe your mother. depending upon how you look at it i guess. they're always there, unconditionally. they don't judge you, they cuddle you and lick you when you're sad, and most importantly, they don't speak. they just listen. and some of them listen very attentively. call me a cat lady if you wish (though "dog lady" would actually be more appropriate), but i know that the love of a pet is a very special thing, and it's something that you can count on. i've always liked animals more than people.

my cat rusty used to love it when i sang to him. i would play music and it made him happy. when i cried and told him about my problems, i swear to god he understood. just talking while having him near me always gave me a better sense of clarity. and every pet i've ever owned (well, dogs and cats at least) has been able to sense when i'm in a sad mood and they've always comforted me. i don't have to ask, and even when i do, they don't expect anything in return. i'm not saying that humans aren't capable of unconditional love, but think about that concept for a minute. UNCONDITIONAL love. loving someone without any conditions at all. despite anything they've said or done. that's not an easy thing to do.

i can think of a handful of people who love me in that way, for sure. the more people i meet and the more i'm disappointed in life, the more grateful i am for those people, and for my pets. maybe my dog doesn't have the capacity to love me as deeply as another human being does, but she will love me and cuddle me until the day she dies. you can call that sad, you can call it pathetic, you can call it cynical and strange. but it's true. i look around these days and every day i have one less person or thing that i can count on. so i appreciate every creature on this earth that gives me a little more time and a little more faith, because god knows i need it.