My earliest recollection of my big sister Mags, was her absolute heart love for animals. I still remember seeing her cuddled up and sobbing deeply in the back seat of our car, the night we took our dog Chippy to the Vet to be put down. I remember the many times she would come home from the Eagle Junction State School and bring with her any animal that she found on the way that was hurt or injured. One time it was a pigeon that could not fly and somehow she had caught it and brought it home peacefully snuggled up in her arms. Still, the one I remember most vividly was the time she came home and said to me that she wanted to show me an animal she had caught. I was puzzled because I could not see any animal, as there was nothing in her hands. As she began to unbutton her cardigan she revealed a frilly neck lizard just holding on to her shirt and showing no signs of wanting to escape. Now this was fortunate because I had already run out of the room in quite a hurry to get away from Mag’s new pet. But that was her way with animals. They just trusted her and in a Dr. Doolittle type way – I really think she could talk to them!
