Lola taught me how to handle adversity and Lucy taught me how to love unconditionally. Lola taught me to laugh and Lucy taught me to cry. She taught me that it's okay to love someone so much that when they finally die, you feel that your heart is broken.

This afternoon, my dog will leave this world in my arms without pain, with my lipstick kiss on her mature Maltese mane. Tonight, when it is late and dark and time to sleep, I will feel her presence beside me.

It is clear that, come the time, I will do the right thing by my Scout. My baby. I will not let her suffer. We are told that we love our animals so much, we know when that moment is upon us. And we do the right thing. But how?

Some people who write about their pets really write about their pets -- and they do it in a way that speaks to the hearts of other humans who have also had significant interspecies relationships.

I believe five pounds of fur and love taught me more about life than my bookshelf of self-help books.

What if you went through today -- one day -- living your life the way a dog sees it? Thrilled to go for a short walk, ecstatic over meeting another dog, happy as can be just to feel someone's touch, playing with the simplest toys.

Have you ever considered the lessons you learned and the love you expressed through your relationship with animals? Pets connect us to nature and are one of nature's best sources of love.

I never wanted the responsibility of children, yet this min pin taught me much about being responsible and accountable, and I learned how to give and receive absolute unconditional love. Certainly, I underestimated the impact her presence would have on my life.

Bernie's cancer went into remission, and he survived to meet my daughter. Then, amazingly, he held on to his remission to meet my son 20 months later. But living that long wasn't easy on him, and it took its toll on us, too.

In search of insight, I turned to Ptolemy Tompkins' new book, "The Divine Life of Animals: One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On."

Some people feel silly for being so struck by their dog or cat's death, but to deny such sadness and pain is to deny the importance of these dear frie...