Di and I started fostering a year ago this month. We just picked up foster number 23. Not bad for our first year! What will the next 12 months hold - who knows for sure, but I'm glad it will filled with dogs, dog food, treats, Nature's Miracle, and hopefully lots of adoptions!
Our newest foster is Clarissa, a 7 month old Shepherd mix. She came from a high kill shelter in South Carolina, and is quite a nice dog. She is doing great with our gang - and loves people (in a gentle, friendly way not a I'm-going-to-jump-all-over-you kind of way). So far miss thing has enjoyed a good meal and so yummy snacks (her words on this one :), had a bath (she did great!), and played quite a bit with our dogs. She is now sleepy next to our dogs like she has been here her whole life. Very nice to see. Will she adopted quickly? I think so. She is one of those dogs that people gravitate to - she'll go fast to a great home.
I spent quite a bit of time this weekend at cancer benefit events - a kids cancer walk and a Bark for Life event. Two very different groups of people, but both left me with a profound feeling of the possibilities in life, and an appreciation for my life and the people in it. I have been fortunate so far to experience cancer in terms of others' lives. My mom, my dad, several relatives, and a few friends (who are way too young to have cancer). I have shared many heartbreaking moments with patients and caregivers, and I know I have also been that friend that needed someone to listen to what I was going through when I felt helpless as a care giver or family member on the sidelines. So after this weekend, I have to ask myself what am I going to do to make the world a little bit better? Right now I have no one directly in my life who needs my help with dealing with cancer (I am there for someone who has someone who has someone who has cancer, but it's not quite the same thing) - so what I am doing to make the best use of health and time? I volunteer with foster dogs, and I am also a Big Sister volunteer, but after spending time with folks who really don't have time to do anything because they are going to chemo appointments, and doctor visits, and battling the day to day affects of this horrible disease, then I know I actually do have more time. I am working on my 5 year career plan, and I think I need to work on my 5 year give back plan. More on that later....
To everyone I talked to this weekend, I thank you for sharing your story with me, shedding a tear or 2 with me, and for having the courage to continue to live and fight and keep on keeping on. You inspire me, and I thank you for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment