Soul sisters

 My dear friend Berry Perkins was adamant that I should keep the shelter dog I rescued from the pound. “She looks amazingly like you,” Berry remarked. “You have to keep her, just look at how attached she is to you already. Besides, maybe she’ll help you meet the man of your dreams. Dogs help you meet all kinds of people. You’ll have to take her on walks, to parks. Sweetikins, this is a brilliant thing for you to do.”

I put a lot of stock into what Berry had to say. I held her in such high regard. People commented that we looked like sisters, which was the biggest compliment I could ever imagine receiving. I felt as though we were soul sister, although our backgrounds couldn’t have been more different. She was European with aristocratic connections while I was a middle class "Valley Girl" with Amish ancestry. We often marveled about how we felt the same deep down inside. From the very beginning, we understood one another in a very profound manner. In a matter of days, Berry would call me just as I was picking up the phone to call her. Our connection grew into one of the most poignant relationships I ever had.