Pet Portfolio

I grew up in a big house in Wayne, PA, surrounded by my parents, six brothers and sisters, and as the years went by, a wide variety of pets.

Eventually we settled in with two dogs and a cat, but before that time we had, at various times - and to our parent's occasional dismay – turtles, salamanders, snakes, fish, frogs, hermit crabs, sea monkeys (remember them?), mice, hamsters, and Pogo, our much beloved parakeet.

Despite having a home filled to the brim with kids and pets, my Father would , from time to time, look up from his newspaper at the kitchen table and say, “wouldn't it be great if we had a goat in the backyard?” My brothers, sisters and I would exchange hopeful glances, but months would pass and the whole idea seemed to have been forgotten by my Dad, and then eventually by us too.

Then the day would come when, out of the blue, my Dad would get that look in his eyes again and, peeking over his newspaper say, “wouldn't it be great if we had a goat in the backyard?”

Our Dad never did pull into the driveway with a goat sticking his head out of the station wagon window, and as time passed, we realized that getting a dog – or dogs! - was a more realistic goal for us to encourage our parents to pursue.

When we did eventually get our dogs, Snuffy and Naomi, the whole idea of a goat in the backyard changed into another one of those stories that we'd bring up from time to time and smile about.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, all of those pets come with a lot of memories, memories that can be preserved with photographs, photographs that can almost act as a key to unlock and open a door to the times that will always matter to you.