FELT like adopting an animal on what would have been my mom and dad's anniversary, which this year was the day before Mother's Day. So I adopted the animal I had that was closest to what my mom would have liked, which was my American cocker spaniel.
Because one of my favorite writers, Gladys Taber, raised cocker spaniels at her home, "Stillmeadow," in Southbury, Connecticut, I wanted to name the spaniel something in tribute. I couldn't decide among any of the real dogs' names ("Honey" and "Teddy" were two of the buff-colored cockers she had) and I don't particularly like "Gladys" and wasn't sure about "Jill," who was Taber's best friend.
So I simply named her "Stillmeadow" or "Meadow" for short (with no reference to The Sopranos, for gossakes—what kind of good Italian name is "Meadow" anyway; Italian girls usually receive saints' names).
Tribute to Gladys
