My recent trip to Maine surfaced memories of growing up, like this one: a 4-some of baby field mice Dad brought home for his 1st-grader to raise after he ran over their mom while mowing the neighborhood cemetery. My school didn’t object to the little box of friends with their every-2-hour feedings, and even Mom put up with the lack of sleep I agreed to.

Dad was also famous for his garden, and my folks provided an annual corn roast for friends who spilled across the shade-spangled yard, so Dad’s solution to one summer’s insistent family of marauding raccoons stands out as a model of respect. He live-trapped the whole gang and loaded them and us kids in the truck to go on a midnight release run.

When my parents together were honored with a Spirit of America award for double lifetimes of community service, the list of their contributions extended primarily across various needs of humans, near and far. What Dad demonstrated was this: practicing kindness to other-than-humans increases our kindness across the human spectrum too; kindness leads us away from judgment. My first novel is dedicated to my parents and our animal families, with author proceeds dedicated to animal welfare nationwide, like the movement toward a sheltering system that engages communities to support adoptable homeless animals. Subscribe to my website www.sidsibo.com for upcoming ideas on ways to be part of the kindness revolution, and please, contact me if your animal welfare organization wants to partner up.