Anna - Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 3, 2007
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved snakes. When I was four, a woman in front of us in a pet store check-out line was carrying a huge snake. I started petting it because it seemed to like me.
The woman turned and started to tell my mom to keep away because the snake supposedly didn’t like strangers. When she saw that her snake was enjoying my attention, she was speechless. After that experience, I began to want a snake of my own. To me, there is something fascinating about them. I think they are very beautiful, graceful, and loving. I’ve learned in Christian Science that everything God creates expresses good and beautiful qualities.
Anna’s Mother - Christian Science Sentinel, Dec. 3, 2007
When my daughter asked for a snake for her birthday, I gulped in dread. Ever since she was a small child, she’d been fascinated with reptiles and fearless with the ones she met at petting zoos and at pet shops. I, on the other hand, had a lifelong fear of snakes and had largely managed to avoid them. One time when I found a king snake in the greenhouse of our New Mexico home, I had to call a neighbor to remove it while I hid in another room. Disturbed as I was at the thought of living with a snake, I felt that my anxiety was not a valid enough reason to turn down my daughter’s request. She’d put in many hours of research, proving herself ready and able to care for an animal. She encouraged me by writing up pages of information with pictures of the type of snake she’d selected and spoke enthusiastically about the attractive appearance and disposition of the breed she’d chosen.
