Julia Kramer, President, BABU Inc.

Julia's Pets

Julia & Bitsy-Betsy                                  Peaches & Elsa              

I've been a pet person since day one. My very first memories are of playing in the grass on the lawn at my family's home in North Carolina surrounded by eight fat-as-can-be, roly-poly Beagle puppies and our first dog, their mom, Bitsy-Betsy (interesting what happens when you let the kids name the dog). To this day, Beagles hold a special place in my heart and will always remind me of my happy childhood.

Since the early Beagle days, I've had many cherished pets. There was a series of four cats all named Sam, various and sundry Persians, an alley cat and one Manx. And then the dogs: a couple of goofy, lovable mutts named Charles and Poppy, a three-legged speed-freak mixed-breed dog named Jet, and an elegant but confused Irish named Red (at more than 80 pounds, he still considered my lap the best seat in the house).

Although the felines and canines were ever-present, they were joined over the years by a well-loved hamster named Prince William, several hundred guppies, numerous tadpoles, tree frogs that we raised from eggs, white mice that seemed to be escaping all the time, goldfish twins, turtles, pet snails and a duckling. Clearly my father's profession as a zoologist speaks to something in our gene pool.

At present, my husband, children and I share our home with two wonderful best friends, Elsa and Peaches. Elsa is a maternal and mature presence - a serene, solid, ball-chasing, water-loving, worry-wart of a chocolate Lab. She's incredibly loyal, tolerant and the best rainy-day companion a person could have.

Then there's Peaches. Peaches is the incorrigible, mischievous teenager. In fact, she's known in certain neighborhoods on the coast of Delaware as "the flying dog." Eye witnesses say that when we left for the beach one sunny day, Peaches waited about five minutes, crawled over the barricade that we put on the rickety outdoor stairs to the roof-deck and climbed to the top. Once on the roof, she went to the edge and looked over for quite a while. Then, according to our astonished neighbors, she backed up about five feet and took a running leap off the roof and onto the sand below. It's said she skidded a bit when she landed, immediately shook herself off and headed on down the road, tail wagging and tongue hanging - happy as a clam. Peaches is a Beagle-blend, and we know she was following her nose, so we were very surprised to see her waiting for us in front of the cottage when we arrived home from the beach.

To me, pets make everything better. They are funny and fun, get me outside when I'm feeling lazy, warn me when a stranger (or squirrel or fly or light breeze) is at the door, warm me up on the coldest nights, lift my spirits, listen eagerly to every single word I say and ask for next to nothing in return. Each pet I've had has been precious and unique, and I am thankful for every minute that I have spent with these amazing companions.