As you all are quite aware, animal rescue is full of highs and lows.   I call it the emotional roller coaster.  These past two weeks have certainly been a high and I constantly thank God for all His blessings.  Donations have been up and I’m actually keeping pace with fees I’ve occurred for my kids, a rarity.

Sunday I was treated to dinner at La Strada in Lake Lure by the owners, Stan and Marsha Mazur.  The Mazur’s have been ardent supporters of Lennie’s kids for a long time and the food and atmosphere at La Strada is hard to beat.  Stan once raised thousands of dollars to buy phone cards for the soldiers in Afghanistan when he learned it was costing them $10 for every 3 minutes.  He is one of the good guys.

Stan promised me he’d run some sort of promotional fundraiser for Lennie’s kids as soon as my 501c3 for grants and endowments comes through.  Well my friend, after two and a half years of jumping through hoops I received approval on Monday and Lennie’s fund is now tax exempt for any form of gift or donation.  I’ve given out a few copies to those who have asked for it and yours will be in the mail soon, Stan.

Thanks first of all to Emmy who started me on this venture against my better judgment and most of all to Melissa who pushed all the right buttons to make this happen while I was losing faith, not in the Lord, but in government.

A few months ago Charma, my latest Boxer, came into my life and began to fill a deep hole in my heart.  She always greets me with the dance of joy but since I haven’t been up to par lately, she keeps it down to a minimum.  She cuddles with me all the time but that’s a different matter.  After all the good news I had a little extra spring in my step and Charma picked it up immediately.  Her dance of joy was overly exuberant, twisting her body into contortions that only a Boxer can do.  I sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and kissed her all over her face as she laid her paws on my lap, soaking up my affection.  “You have some big shoes to fill girl,” I said.  “I know dad,” she replied.  “Oh you do, do you.  How is that?”  Charma went on excitedly, “Uncle Monty, Uncle Bruno and most of all Auntie Allie told me.”  “How did they do that Charma?” I said tearing up, “You didn’t even know them.”  “They told me in my dreams, dad.  They said they had real bad things happen to them and how it all changed when you took them home.  They said you are the best dad in the whole world.”  “I think of them a lot.” I said.  “They know that,” Charma replied, “They made me promise to love you and mom just as much as they did.”

I tearfully held her closer and whispered in her ear, “It’s like I said, sweet Charma, you’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

 

Thanks for listening