All Creatures Great and Small

Dear Diary,

Today is the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals, among other things.  I thought this photograph of Mom and Dad's dog and cat taken this month 77 years ago would be appropriate.  Married less than a year, Dad had not left for the war yet.  My parents always had a dog and a cat in the house and it is their love of animals that surely shaped mine.  I'm not sure which on is Billy and which is Susie but don't they look sweet sharing the chair on the sunny porch?  St. Francis was the first to see animals in a humane and compassionate way.  "God requires that we assist the animals, when they need our help. Each being (human or creature) has the same right of protection."  (PS. I've sold 8 Tomten so far to benefit the farm animals at the sanctuary!)