People who have pets in their lives know the tremendous power our animals have in connecting us with feelings of well-being. Cats, dogs, service animals, and other furry, scaly, or feathered friends provide companionship and so much more by doing what they do best — tolerating and interacting with their people. Pet ownership is on the rise in the U.S. and Indiana ranks No. 4 among states in pet ownership — 69 percent of Hoosier households own pets, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. We thought it was high time we devoted another issue to pets. (See our feature on page 60.)
I’ve had pets most of my life and so has my husband; lots of pets to remember — many were named after Beverly Hillbillies characters —Jed, Jethro, Pearl Bodine, Jethrine. I will share something about each of our current pets here.
Lucky, our oldest pet at 13, is a brown and black domestic shorthair tabby with bright green eyes. She loves everyone and generally that love is returned; she is extremely social and still behaves like a kitten. Lucky has an exotic look because her ears fold due to surgeries for ear canal hematomas when she was a kitten.
Lou is an 11-year-old 15-pound gray shorthair cat — with white paws and a white bib. He is exceptionally soft and plush. He preserves his energy well; his favorite activity is being petted on the bed.
Jed is our 6-year-old mountain cur dog. We adopted him after he was rescued from a pigpen in rural southwest Indiana. Jed has special relationships with family members and friends; each relationship is unique. Our son Maxwell’s girlfriend Meghan Stratton taught Jed tricks we all now enjoy. It’s really cute when he rushes through them in succession — sit, shake, rollover, spin — before the treat is even offered. I asked Meghan about Jed:
“I’ve never met a dog with so much personality! Jed’s expressions and reactions are so human-like, and he always brightens up my day. I love to show Jed’s tricks to anyone who will watch — my favorite performance is his roll over. He is such a good boy!”
This magazine also celebrates the 19th anniversary of the publication of the first issue of Evansville Living, the March/April 2000 issue (see page 16). To mark this occasion, my husband Todd recently gave a talk at Evansville Country Club about what he has seen and learned since we launched the company in 1999.
To prepare, Todd looked through every page of every issue of Evansville Living — 113 issues; that task took 25 hours. (On the occasion of our 100th issue, September/October 2016, we asked Evansville Bindery to encase each year’s magazines.) To an audience of longtime subscribers and newcomers, Todd shared what he found in his research: names we will never forget (Marilou Berry, Tommie Wilson), favorite local spots now long closed (A-La-Carte, The Great Frameup, Klein’s, and Weinbach Cafeteria), and stories that might have broken the web if they were not too early, like our 2009 story on local Iran Contra figure John Hull or our 2003 story on a grandiose plan to build an entertainment complex with an aquarium on the riverfront.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you!
Kristen K. Tucker
Publisher & Editor
