My Vegan Rhea

My Vegan Rhea by Thomas Parsons Riker

I am so proud of my Rhea. Every single day I wake up and realize how lucky I am, and how blessed my life is because of her love. My Rhea inspires me and every person she meets with her passion for animals and for living a life of kindness. She fights for the innocent and never, ever stops. My Rhea is the most honest, most caring, and most loving person I have ever met.

I fell head over heels for that Rhea, a beauty who laughed and talked with me all night the first time we met, that took any chance for adventure and made it her own, the woman who still remembers that it took 27 hours for me to kiss her on that first date. I fall in more love with my Rhea every day. She has kept her passion and strength despite losing her mother and her beloved little Westie girl Poochie at the same time almost four years ago. Out of terrible sadness Rhea has created an entirely new life for herself, and has given herself a chance at happiness.

It’s been over a year since Rhea changed our world by choosing veganism. She didn’t make the change lightly – the choice had been coming for years – but when she saw just what it meant to live and eat like everyone else, what happens to the animals that are tortured and killed for our hungers, she threw herself into it with her whole heart and soul. After a lifetime of eating meat, Rhea has committed herself to veganism in every way. She has protested at consulates and leafleted in squares, argued with strangers and debated with friends, changed her wardrobe and household and husband, and marched in parades and raised funds on walks. I’ll always remember the smile on her face when she visited a sanctuary for the first time and was able to actually meet the animals she loves so much. The chance to scratch the back of an enormous pig, or to lean over a fence and gently touch a rescued cow, meant so much to her. Rhea talked about the visit for days, and still does.

Now, despite dealing every day with personal pain and illness (getting prescriptions again after getting rid of almost a dozen she needed before), despite having her chance to teach snatched away from her, my Rhea still fights every chance she gets to speak out for veganism, to show by example that a vegan life is possible, even easy. She adapts recipes for amazing dishes that anyone could love, and blogs about her journey and how she deals with every challenge on her new path. Rhea gives advice and support to people she has never met, works for hours making delicious vegan meals for others, and is constantly searching for chances to explore every aspect of veganism. Every animal rescue story makes her smile, every report of abuse or neglect makes her cry all over again.

My Rhea is amazing and truly beautiful, in ways far more than just skin-deep. She inspires me to want more from life, to love more deeply and honestly every day we are together. She inspires and touches the heart of everyone she meets. I love my vegan Rhea, my beloved, first, last, and always.

Your Tommy