Community Talk

My grandparents live in Minsk a short drive away from us and therefore they visit our family often. My grandma used to not like our family’s pets. We got our family dog, Knopa, from an animal shelter eleven years ago. The grandma immediately took to disliking him. She refused to pet Knopa as she believed that house animals spread infections and parasites.  A few years later our family adopted a stray cat. We named him Simon. She did not like to let Simon in the house when he was scratching the glass of the patio doors.

The following summer our family went out of town for a month long holiday. Knopa and Simon were left in the care of my grandma. She and grandpa stayed in our house and looked after the dog and the cat. Grandma fed them, gave them water and let Simon in and out of the house for his daily adventures in the neighborhood. Grandpa took Knopa for twice-daily walks around the block. They also gave a daily bath to Knopa. Grandma always felt Simon needed a good bath but as everyone knows cats hate water, so that part could not happen.

When my parents, sister and I came back from the vacation, I was overjoyed to hug Simon and Knopa. I could not help noticing that my grandma’s attitude to them was a lot different from before. She showed a genuine interest in Simon and Knopa’s wellbeing and often volunteered to take care of them.

By taking care of someone, be it a person or an animal, people come to love them.