Accepting What Was

My pet Raven wasn’t eating well.

I said, “Raven, are you okay?” I’ve never called any of my pets by a name. I refer to their species. It’s not to be mean. I know it’s not important to them.

My Raven said, “I haven’t been hungry lately.”

I said, “Can I get you a different kind of food? They have golden dragons on sale at PetCo.”

My Raven said, “Well, actually, I really like raspberry popsicles.”

I went to Giant Foods and got some raspberry popsicles. I came back home and gave one to my Raven. She ate and enjoyed the raspberry popsicle.

When I was a kid I never thanked anyone for anything. I never saw that I didn’t deserve. But it bothered me that my Raven didn’t say thanks.