While I love all animals, two of my favorites are elephants and English Bulldogs.  Elephants are fascinating animals and we are constantly learning more about their significant intelligence and cognitive abilities.   Studies have shown that elephants are very emotional and, unlike other animals, mourn their dead.  The below short video shows their mourning rituals.

The old saying that elephants never forget has some truth to it.  They do remember.  There is an amazing organization called the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust which is located in Kenya.  The organization is run by David’s widow, Dame Daphne Sheldrick, and while they rescue other types of animals as well, they specialize in orphaned elephants, many of whom have seen their parents slaughtered for the ivory.  The orphaned elephants are traumatized as they do not forget the terribly violent scene that they have witnessed.  Over the years, Dame Sheldrick has worked to reproduce the milk of the mother elephant to nourish these babies.  Through the Trust’s website (www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org), I adopt a baby elephant for my mom each year on Mother’s Day.  It is a wonderful program – you can pick a specific elephant and they send to the gift recipient an entire package containing pictures and a history of the elephant, and then also provide regular updates.

The below is another favorite elephant video showing a baby elephant’s first steps.  Notice how the elephants surround the baby to protect and assist – truly a beautiful scene.

Apparently I came by my passion for bulldogs naturally.  My family jokes that there is a bulldog gene that started with my great-uncle, went to my dad, and then passed to me.  We had them when I was a child and when I reached a point of stability in my adult life (with job and marriage) my husband and I found this sweet girl:

Her registered name is Savannah’s Amazing Grace; we call her Gracie and she is my soul mate.  When Gracie was a baby, we visited the beautiful community of Black Mountain, North Carolina with friends.  Gracie, of course, accompanied us.  My husband said he always knew where I was in a store, even if we were separated, as he would hear people scream once they saw Gracie.  For the first six months of her life, she went to work with me; during that period of time, I accomplished nothing as I constantly had members of our law firm visiting my office.  I would walk her in downtown Savannah and traffic would stop.  Part of that is due to bulldogs being extremely popular in Savannah as it is the home of UGA, the University of Georgia bulldog mascot – and the other part is because she truly is special.

Because Gracie was my first dog as an adult, my husband bought me a dog training book titled “So Your Dog Isn’t Lassie” – and it had a picture of an English Bulldog on the front.  Bulldogs are notoriously stubborn and difficult to train.  I took Gracie to obedience school and I remember the owner telling me that she had never seen a bulldog that responded to its owner like Gracie did to me.  We communicate with each other without talking.  She is my constant companion.  My sweet Gracie is now ten years old, which is somewhat advanced in bulldog years.   At times, when I look at her and see the age in her face, I get a panicked feeling in my chest.  I cannot imagine my life without her – but then I also know that she will always be with me.