Bessie has lived her entire life in fear.
Well, maybe that’s not entirely correct, but she’s at least lived her life just on the edge of fear. She can go from relaxed and happy to tense and terrified in a split second. She’s not just scared of people who might try to hurt her. She’s even scared of the one person in the world who’s fed her and taken care of her for two and a half years — me.
I wrote about Bessie’s sister, Molly, last week. You can read that story if you’d like, because most of it applied to Bessie, too.

I don’t know how to be popular, and that hurts in a social world
What is this old longing for home? It’s the need for unconditional love
In the name of ‘fairness,’ everyone forced to pay for expensive chair lifts
FRIDAY FUNNIES
Man’s unconscious night after stroke leaves me uneasy about living alone
Intolerance isn’t just an American thing; it’s common to all humans
FRIDAY FUNNIES
Nine years ago, he asked her, ‘Will you take a chance on me?’