Nana Loved Canaries; Mam-ma Loved Dogs

My two grandmothers enjoyed having pets. I’m sure they cherished the interaction that pets give to the pet owner.

Nana’s Birds
My Nana, Anne M. (Sullivan) Hork, had canaries in her later years. She was fortunate that these birds would sing and I think that is what gave her great pleasure. Luckily for me, I have heard them sing, too.

She always had yellow canaries and they would live in the kitchen near the dining table. I especially remember her having a bird when she lived at 25 Ninth Avenue in San Mateo. Her kitchen window faced east which was a great spot.

After asking family, we decided that she had named the bird “Sunny” which is a wonderful name for a bright yellow bird. I do not have any photos of Nana’s birds but this is a good example.

Mam-Ma’s Dogs
My Mam-ma, Pansy L. (Lancaster) Johnston, on the other hand, loved having dogs as pets. Some dogs I remember are Thunder (Pomeranian), Pierre (poodle), Molly Brown (Chihuahua), and her last dog, Angel (poodle mix). I am sure that she had more dogs than these, likely before I was born.

Pierre was a brown poodle whom Mam-ma could get to sing. Molly Brown was afraid of us and would hide under the bed when we came to visit. I dog-sat when she went to Spain once and I never saw the dog but she left me poop on the carpet every day for me to clean up. I guess she did not like Mam-ma being gone and me being there instead. Angel was her last dog. She was a rescue dog and was adored by her. She had her until she couldn’t live on her own anymore and my sister took her on.

I’m fortunate to have some photos of Mam-ma’s dogs. These are Thunder and Angel.

#52Ancestors-Week 18: Pets

This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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