By Jeanette M. Pintar - with inspiration from Misty

Surprisingly, for several years Misty did not care for people food. We were actually grateful for this fact as she did not beg, and it's much, much healthier for our pets to eat a balanced diet specifically geared toward their nutritional needs. As my chiropractor / nutritionist explained, our pets did not get people diseases until they started eating people food. We still wanted Misty to share our abundance with us and she did enjoy the fragrance of food so we would offer her the chance to smell what was on our plates. She never actually touched the food or ate it so we didn't think it was that big of a deal.

One day Mark was sitting on the floor watching television and eating some spaghetti with marinara sauce. He stretched his hands and arms upward including the hand which was holding his dinner. Although Mark was very careful not to spill the contents of his plate, he didn't realize that as he stretched up toward the top of the bed, Misty who had been sleeping up there, awoke to see a plate of spaghetti being offered to her. As was customary, she took a sniff.

And then she took a bite!

Mark and I couldn't believe our eyes! It was the first time Misty ever ate people food. We couldn't get mad at her because Mark appeared to be offering his entire meal to her. Misty was just as surprised as we were but really enjoyed her newfound spaghetti dinner! After that she decided Italian-style human food was OK with her and would be awarded the treat of licking the sauce from our plates when we were finished. Throughout the course of her life, Misty also came to enjoy tofu chicken along with a renegade buffalo wing on rare occasions. (But that's a whole nother story!)

It took a long time for Misty to try her first bite of human food but once she did, it opened new horizons for her and gave her many new experiences. There's so much in life we think about trying but don't for one reason or another. However, when we finally do try something new, whether it's food, a sport, traveling to a new destination, taking a class, or some other experience new to us, it opens us up and expands our sense of self. Trying new things not only gives us the benefit of the new thing itself, (in Misty's case, spaghetti), but it also improves our faith, hope, courage and self-confidence. It keeps life interesting and helps us stay motivated by the sheer joy of learning. Instead of stagnating in the familiar, we keep moving into new territory and learn how to incorporate that into our daily lives. In turn, we grow as individuals.

--- © Jeanette M. Pintar, Inspired by Misty