Dearest Val,
I personally value the way animals feel about me more than people. People are so fake and so fickle, and often even vicious, regardless of what they know of you or how you’ve been with them.
Animals see who we really are. Instantaneously. I believe it was Greta Garbo that once said, “I’m glad not everyone likes me. I would think less of myself if they did.” That’s how I feel about people.
I value how animals feel about me much more than how people do. Before I knew you, I had an ability to connect with cats, all cats, even those other people said wouldn’t come up to me or would run away. Cats know they can trust me.
You’ve taught me how to extend the love I feel for cats and how to connect with them to other animals, even ones I was previously afraid of.
You’ve helped me be able to walk around my neighborhood and interact with big scary dogs behind fences or on chains that bark crazily at other people, but who sit quietly and accept the love I have to offer them when I walk past their yard. I’ve been able to quietly and easily rescue the birds and other creatures my cats have brought in the house over the years.
My animal life has been so magnified by you.
I believe you might be one of the people who have had the greatest effect on my life. You’re a powerhouse! I love you.