I won't settle for medioce life

Today was an interesting day that began with no plans really.  Just our normal commitment to my son's baseball game.  Weather was not great but refreshing not to have to sit in the heat of the sun for another two hours of baseball.  Interestingly, a few twists and turns and my new easy going attitude lead me to two things today; both, phone calls.  This shouldn't seem terribly odd to anyone but for me it is.  Most people talk on the phone.  I don't.  With my attention difficulties and background noise I have always avoided conversations when possible; I find it difficult to stay on topic and focused.  But today I answered the phone.


A woman who entered my life just a few short months ago through a plea for help for a dog.  If you know me well, you know my world of animal rescue but that took a serious turn exactly two years ago when my (ex)husband walked out on me and the kids "because of the dogs" (or at least that's what he told the kids and his attorney).  He sent Child Protective Services to the home we shared to, apparently, take the children out of my care for being in danger.  We both knew they weren't but this was his weak and ridiculous effort to hurt me.  Little did he know my strength.  Within days 15 dogs left my licensed kennel on to other rescue groups for safety and placement leaving me with no more than we had ever housed as pets.  Obviously the children remain in my care to this day and this was not the direction I intended to take this story... back to the phone call.


When this plea for help hit my inbox, amongst thousands of pleas for help, what struck me was this woman reminded me of me and the level of commitment I gave to the dogs whose lives I had saved. The commitment only begins with the "rescue" of the dog; the commitment exists for the time that dog remains on this earth.  That is what this woman had done. Five years after she had placed this particular dog into an adoptive home it needed her help and she took on that responsibility. That was why I chose to help her.  My admiration for her level of commitment compelled me to want to do as much as I could.  I began a fund raising effort and that dog had her surgery two days ago; she is now healing and on the road to a life free of pain, despite being six-seven years old.


So the phone call that came in brought in an interesting form of Karma.  This woman who I didn't know from Adam when I answered her plea for help is in the entertainment industry; has been her entire life. We have learned more and more about each other through conversations mostly centered around this dog's care but today she offered to help my son; knowing he has entered the entrainment field and doing well for just staring out, although he is not landing commercial/film work and that is her area of expertise.  She offered to train and help him with his career in turn for a kind gesture from me.  Amazing how life works isn't it?  I just simply answered the phone.

“Problems arise in that one has to find a balance between what people need from you and what you need for yourself"

~Jessye Norman

The second thing we did was go out and meet a dog.  Again, silly for those who know me, but you have to understand that I have a dream dog.  Everyone has a favorite breed or something they've always wanted.  Despite being referred to as "the pit bull lady" mine happens to be a gentle giant.  I have had many dogs in my life and when I say "many" I'm talking hundreds of dogs; all sizes, all breeds, all ages, all temperaments.... a LOT of dogs.  The beauty of rescuing and fostering is that you have the opportunity to really learn and know breeds of dogs; their sizes, habits, traits and temperaments.  So for about two years I have had my heart set on a Newfoundland, Irish Wolfhound or a Saint Bernard.  I have passively searched and was open also to Great Danes, Great Pyrenees and even Mastiffs but my goal was to find a dog that needed me the most (as is the case with all of the other dogs I have made a personal, adoptive commitment to).  Most of my dogs have been deaf, blind (or both), missing eyes or appendages but there are other "special needs" that dogs have and some of those have to do with temperament.  The man who needs a new home for this dog originally listed her as "no other dogs" in the home.  I called anyway.  After a detailed discussion of the reasons he needed her gone from his home, I met her anyway; half hoping she would be aloof, growl or grumble at me or the kids or make a b-line to attack one of my dogs so the decision would be out of my hands... she did none of the above.  She went belly up to me and gave me nothing but wags and kisses.  Yet when the remainder of the family approached with the dog that gave this dog the label of "no other dogs" I could see what they were living with and why they no longer wanted to live this way.  I haven't made a final decision yet although I've been offered to take this dog into my home.  I knew some day, without really searching for the one that would need me the most, that she would find me. I now have to decide if I can commit.  The me of yesterday would already have her at my feet tonight.


Life is so much easier now that I'm not over planning, over committing, over analyzing.  There is a peace in my mind that didn't exist before; the urgency of life is over, the pleasure of life has begun.

"The life of your dreams has always been closer to you than you realized, because The Power - to have everything good in life - is inside you."

~Rhonda Byrne