A Special Kind of Love

This is a picture of my family. That's me in the middle, holding my kitten, Tuna. I love everyone in my family very much, but in very different ways. Let me show you what I mean.

My mother and I have a bunny kind of love. She nibbles on my ears and I sit on my haunches while she reads to me. Then just before bed, she kisses me on my bunny nose and tucks me in.

My brother and I have a tiger kind of love. We growl and roar at one another and then we wrestle like striped tigers. When we eat our peanut butter and mustard sandwiches, we take big tiger bites and drink our milk in giant slurps.

My little sister and I have a kangaroo kind of love. When there's thunder outside and she's scared, I make a pouch out of a blanket and hold her close to my kangaroo tummy until she stops shaking.

My cousin and I have a dolphin kind of love. We glide through the water, jumping up as high as we can and dropping back down. We chatter away like dolphins and bump each other with our noses.

My grandfather and I have a possum kind of love. We sit and swing on our porch seat like possums slowly swaying in the breeze.

My aunt and I have a nightingale kind of love. She sings to me the sad sweet song of the nightingale and I answer back.

My father and I have a bullfrog kind of love. We bounce up and down in the backyard, leapfrogging over rocks and bushes. We leapfrog over each other crying "ribbit, ribbit," the deep cry of the bullfrog.

My baby brother and I have a sparrow kind of love. We cranes his neck up to me and I drop the food in, just like a mother sparrow feeding her child. When I pick him up, I turn him in the air, letting the wind rush past his face.

My grandmother and I have a brown bear kind of love. We give each other great big bear hugs. In the kitchen, we eat bear food like blueberries and raspberries and softly growl like hungry bears do.

I love everyone in my family and they love me right back. But as you can see, love means different things for different people. Each kind of love is special in its own way.

Here we are again. We are all sitting down to a big meal together. We may be very different, but we love getting together. I guess you could call that a people kind of love.