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My Best Friends Have Hairy Legs (2008)

by Cierra Rantoul(Favorite Author)

2.97 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1439213305 (ISBN13: 9781439213308)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Booksurge Publishing

review 1: Story about author's relationships with people and with pets, some abusive, and her struggle through them. Very good.Favorite Quotes:"I've been asked if I would change anyting in my life--if I had a 'do-over'--would there be people or events that I would avoid like the plague. Would I have made different choices? Wiser decisions? That is always a tough one to answer. Would I like to have avoided a painful phase in my life? All the hurt and tears that came with a bad relationship? Sure, who wouldn't? But honestly, it is all those things that have made me who I am today, and I actually like myself today. If any of those things hadn't happened...I'm not sure I would be this person today. I certainly wouldn't trade all the pain and hurt from that relationship if it ... moremeant that I wouldn't have (pet) Trooper. He is, by far, the best dog I have ever had. And sorry, girl friends, but he is, by far, the best friend I have ever had." p 20-21"Silence was his favorite way to 'punish' me for anything, whether it was something I had done or not done, said or not said, or completely unrelated to me. Under normal circumstances I might have said his silence is golden, but it was always cold and terrifying. I often never knew waht triggered his silence and asking him waht was wrong only made it worse and last longer. In anger he would tell me to leave him alone and let him work through it himself. When the next time he stopped talking to me and I gave him his space, he would get angry because I had left him alone. I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn't. p 69"I had lost my independence and my individuality as well. I wasn't allowed to have an opinion unless it was his opinion. I wasn't allowed to listen to my choice of music, or watch TV shows I wanted. I couldn't have friends unless they were his friends. If he had a hobby or interest that he was passionate about, I was expected to be just as passionate about it as he was, and could not have any hobby or interests that did not include him or that he wasn't equally passionate about. " p 63"My previous marriage had been controlling, manipulative, verbally and emotionally abusive. For almost ten years I had lived in fear of him---fear which manifested in physical illnesses---illnesses that had miraculously disappeared within three months of leaving him. Fear. What a powerful emotion that is. We will rearrange our lives just to avoid something we are afraid of. We will suffer humiliation, pain, loss, and do things we thought we never would because of fear. We will put ourselves last just to keep that fear at bay." p 105"Life's lesson are almost always hard ones. You never really know if you pass the test until you find yourself facing the same situation or lesson again. ... I hope that I've learned enough from my companion animals---and my life lessons---that I will be able to make different choices in the future. I almost wrote 'better' choices, but as I said in the beginning of the book, sometimes you can't regret the choices you made because they almost always bring you right to where you re supposed to be---whether to learn a lesson again, or to try something different. 'No matter where you go---there you are.' " p 157-8 "I have also learned that happiness comes from inside--not outside. People can be happy together, but not make each other happy. Sometimes they don't realize how happy they are because they are so 'blinded by the forest' of possessions and material things, and think that their happiness comes from outside. I am happy now because I like who I am." p 163-4"Forgiveness. That has been a huge lesson to learn. Believe it or not, it has been Trooper that has helped the most in learning about forgiveness. ...I had conversations with friends not too long ago about forgiveness and love. Both of them are in marriages that are ending. ...there is one common thread in what caused the disintegration of their marriages. An inability to forgive past hurts has driven a wedge in their relationships that forced them apart. That to me just seems sad because I know that for one in the relationship that was unable to forgive; until they learn to forgive---unconditionally--they will be forced to repeat this 'lesson' again and again in all their future relationships. I see love and forgiveness as being intricately entwined together, and in a relationship, I don't think you can't have one without the other. " p 164-5"Forgiveness. It heals. It lightens your burdens, and casts off that baggage that keeps you from growing and feeling joy. Baggage that is better left at the curb. " p 176"I realized that life was too short to spend it praying for death all the time and that I really didn't want to be in such a hurry to get to the end of my story." p 178"I will not allow myself to be less than I am to meet anyone's expectations." No, never again. " p 182
review 2: I thought this book had some sweet stories about pets (mostly dogs and cats) and how they can be more than friends. The author lost me a little when she called and believed a pet physic (twice) even though the physic's conclusions were rather obvious. Most of this book is about the author's relationships with her dogs rather than overcoming abusive relationships with humans (though that was also included). I liked reading about the animals and overall, it was a pretty short book, so I though it was okay. less

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