"We are responsible forever for the things that we tame."

Antoine de Saint Exupery from "The Little Prince."

My first exposure to this author and his lovely book "The Little Prince" was as a little girl in London, England. It was a book my mother often read to my brother and I before bed. Part of its charm is how it is both wise and whimsical, as well as beautifully illustrated. If you have never read it, I highly recommend that you do ... and share it with your children. At any rate, today's thought is one I have always held in my heart as someone who has shared her life with dogs, cats and horses. I feel my responsibility toward them is more about stewardship, i.e. how I take care of their needs, than it is ownership. Anyone can "own" an animal, but not everyone, as we sadly see all too often, is a good steward of them. This quote reminds me that as long as I have animals in my life, their health and welfare is a responsibility I have accepted and have chosen to gladly bear. Sometimes when I consider this it seems that, perhaps, they have actually tamed me!