I was privileged to discover another inherent quality that Mary possesses— a gentle touch with, and loving care of animals.

We stayed at my sister-in-law’s house while visiting Jack’s side of the family for Thanksgiving.  At her backyard is a pond filled with colorful koi of various sizes.  Beautiful pond, beautiful koi.

Koi

When Mary was told that she can feed the koi as many times as she wants everyday, she rose to the responsibility.

Koi feeding

She went out there to feed the koi while it was snowing…

Koi feeding while snowing

When it was too cold for me to venture out, she was out there, if only for a minute to throw a couple of handfuls of feed…

Koi feeding in the cold

Her “fear” of the dark was not a reason to shirk her new job.

Nighttime Koi feeding

My sister-in-law had also just acquired some cats, Cookie who love to lounge on laptops…

Cookie on laptop

…and Blackie, who grappled Mary’s leg while she was playing Wii

Mary grappled by Blackie

Mary abandoned her Wii baseball game so she could stay still until Blackie let go.

Now, Mary wants a pet of her own.  She would soon discover that her mom has an aversion to owning one…