I'm so glad to be child-free today

I cried when I got home from lab because 2 of my rats died, even though I did everything I could for them. I didn't have to pull myself together to keep from upsetting a child or because I had to take care of it. I didn't have to explain it or tell any myths to gloss over the reality of death. I was free to grieve and then to think through what I need to learn from this experience. I am so glad that I don't have to try to explain to a child that I wholeheartedly support animal research but that doesn't mean that I'm not affected when I see a rat suffering. I'm glad that I don't have to explain that while I support animal research, I despise animal cruelty - that even though I know my experiments cause suffering, I do everything I can to minimize it. I'm glad I don't have to explain how it is that I can value every rat's life and say a prayer to ask its forgiveness for the pain I've caused it and to express my gratitude for what I will learn from it, but that the reason we use rats for research is because somehow they aren't as valuable as humans.