So Much Inspiration!

Today's Mofo prompt is by far one of my favorites. It is to Honor a human or a non-human animal who inspires your veganism. I have so many inspirations, and most of them are animals. But I also have to honor my late grandparents who I loved so much it hurts. When I was little and I would spend time with them, they would always read to me before I went to sleep. On a side note, they really inspired my deep love of reading and books also, but back to veganism! I am not even close to exaggerating when I say that I had two books I had them read to me. Black Beauty and The Black Stallion. I never wanted little cutesy kids books read to me, and I just had them read these two books OVER AND OVER! For years! They were probably partying the night away when I was able to read myself! Ha! I felt so many emotions when I heard these stories, and I deeply felt for these beautiful animals, and I so wanted to jump into the book and kick all of these people's asses. I just could not understand how humans could even think about being so cruel. I have never forgotten those two books, and even typing this is making me get some feels. My grandparents also had three dogs that I ADORED! Angel, Lucy, and Muffy. I had a deep connection with Muffy, and I used to love playing in the backyard with them. It was at a very young age that I discovered I preferred the company of non-human animals.

I've always thought of animals as equals. As a kid, we had a large dog, and several cats. All the animals slept with me, and I had a normal kids sized bed. On the regular I woke up on the floor, with Tut(the dog) and the kitties all stretched out on my bed. My mom would always say "you know, that is your bed, you're allowed to move them" and I would just kind of think "whatever mom". Even now, I wake up on the regular with a stiff back because I don't want to disturb any of my feline family. And yes, I have fallen out of bed several times lately!
My mom also was a big animal lover, and even though I have issues with her in other ways, I appreciate that she not only taught me to love and respect animals, but she taught me to be a warrior for animals. We lived on a Christmas tree farm for awhile, and had over nine acres that was our property, but it was all wild and there were no fences or anything. Every year when it was hunting season, my mom would put on a fluorescent snow suit, and patrol our property and protect it from hunters. She got into many confrontations with idiotic men with guns, and she never once backed down or let these morons intimidate her. And if she ever saw someone mistreating an animal, it was on. I am so grateful that she passed that on to me. I'm a very non-confrontational person, but if I see you mistreat an animal, I become the most confrontational person you have ever met in your life.
I can't write this post without acknowledging PETA. I was living my life as a vegetarian, feeling pretty damn kind and compassionate in my dietary choices. I hate admitting this, but I let my love of cheese keep me in the dark about the dairy industry. One afternoon (it was a Saturday) I was strolling through Ballard which is my absolute favorite neighborhood in Seattle. I happened to grab a PETA flyer that was near other papers, which is odd because in all honesty I don't very often love what PETA does. I am usually too scared to look at anything PETA related because of the graphic nature. So I grabbed this flyer, and it was about veganism, and there were no graphic images, so I actually read it. It very calmly and rationally pointed out the absolute atrocities that go on in the dairy and egg industry, and it pointed out that many of the meat farmers also are selling dairy and eggs, so you are still supporting the whole industry. But unlike a lot of articles from PETA, this one was very non-judgmental, and very non attention grabbing. It was giving me facts, not trying to shock me. I went vegan the minute I finished reading it. Cold turkey, no planning, no researching, I just did it. It was the right thing to do, and I strongly feel that in a life of decisions I wish I could change, this is the hands down best decision I have and probably will ever make in my life!
Although I have learned much more about healthy eating as a vegan , and I definitely feel healthier that ever, I'm vegan for the animals, forever and ever. I don't care about trendy superfoods, raw, not raw, skinny not skinny. I do get sucked into that weird vegan vortex sometimes, but at the end of the day I care about animals and their well being.

Very Superstitious!

BFFs for Life!

Sisters and friends!

The top picture is Stevie, named after Stevie Wonder, the second is of course Mr. Daiya himself, Dylan, and the bottom is a rare cuddle moment with Scrappy and Afro. These dorks inspire me every day to be a better person. I could never truly articulate how much I have learned about love, and patience, and commitment from these cats.