A pair of pigs

Sally and Jane, the pigs that my aunt raised when I was 7, were my vegetarian muses. When I visited my aunt, I spent time with Sally and Jane and watched them grow from piglets into big strong sows. One day I came to visit, and they were gone. As we sat down to eat that night, my aunt made a comment about having Jane for dinner, and everything became clear. I guess I had to have realized at some point that I was eating animals all of that time, but the connection that evening was so real. I didn't partake of Jane, but I continued to eat meat for a while until one afternoon a "pig in a blanket" was put on my school lunch tray. Something about the name of that entree got me thinking about Jane and my animal friends again. I went ahead and ate it because I was 7 and hungry, but it was a fateful decision. The guilt lay in my stomach all day and followed me into my dreams that night. I have not eaten meat in the 23 years since.

Jane Bise Conner

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