Because after… 5,000 trips to shelters, cleaning diarrhea, the best volunteers ever, amazing vets and friends, cleaning up lots of vomit, Babs – the Saving Grace Wonder Woman, bottle feeding puppies, many hikes with Karen and 20 dogs around Falls Lake for therapy and to restore sanity, mange, 2 trips to New Orleans, scrubbing diarrhea, the amazing SNAP team, fisrt time nail trims requiring safety goggles, generous donors, parasites, puppy breath, removing embedded collars, the adoption of a senior dog, Wake Forest Animal Hospital, “I have a tick where!?!,” a clear and present purpose in life, hosing diarrhea, the determination of a child to improve her pets quality of life, driving a van with a couch in it, stuffing kong after kong with peanut butter, pig grunts, lots of fajitas and margaritas, learning that time is the best teacher, Jason and Lisa, being haunted by a shelter dog left behind, finding lots of limited resources, throwing the same tennis ball over and over, kennel cough, hosting fundraisers, more diarrhea, 334 pictures to get a good one, a burning and addictive passion for improving the reputation of shelter animals, dingleberries, meeting a child in awe of my job, poop on my shoes again…

…the dogs turned out to be my saving grace, witnessing the power of love and value of life each and every day, remarkable and kind parents who finally accepted this isn’t a phase.. and welcoming a new dog into our program as they shake their past haunted by neglect and loneliness as they settle into a warm, dry bed and breath a sigh of peace on earth, I still love it!