Continuation of Where is L-O-V-E?

I had an epiphany this morning. The one thing I really like about this area of South Florida is their love of animals. Animal rescue is very big down in the county of Palm Beach. The local newspaper, The Palm Beach Post has a section on animals for adoption. There are countless organizations dedicated to adopting animals, one of which I volunteer with for a couple of hours on some Saturdays. My experience in the cosmetics industry hawking in the isles of Bloomies actually helps me in the way of asking for donations to help the abandoned and homeless animals. BTW Hawking was never fun for me unless I got someone into the chair and I worked my magic on her face.
Although I love animals, they are still pets- not humans. I think the whole industry of putting animals in strollers which seem to be very prevalent here is insane. Yes the animals are cute but they are not children they are PETS! I do understand that animals feet are not allow to touch the floor of the malls- yes that is the law here. Hence the animals in the strollers. I have seen this before when I worked in Bergdorf Goodman and Henri Bendel in NYC. Somehow the people were seemingly more eccentric behavior and somehow more acceptable.
Which brings me to my epiphany. My theory about the animal attachments here - which is not so different from NY where people are attached to their animals too. But I think here, its for a different reason. I think that so many people here are relocated from some colder northern climate and their families - namely their children are far away and the animals fill a void. I can see myself that even with my cat, I'm a little over the top with my affections for him. My son , in NYof course , is really sick of me talking about Sabee, my cute Tuxedo cat that act more like a dog than a cat. I can go on and on about him, but my point is that I think that in the absence of your children , you need to find some sort of replacement. Pets add to the little bits of love that I need to gather before I feel totally at home in this foreign place where I sometimes feel I'm on Mars.