Holly
Hi Mark,
My husband and I both exchanged your book this Christmas. One, we then gave to a dear friend who has two elderly gentlemen in his life now living well on Nantucket Island (both rescues). I needed great courage to pick your book up and start to read it because I knew what was ahead of me having experienced it myself several times in recent years.
We lost our little rescue Holly to cancer in Oct, 2006. Originally, I had rescued her from the Port Washington Shelter ( a wonderful organization filled with many loving and caring people including many volunteers), in 1995 for my elderly parents. We were blessed to have had a wonderful companion for 11 years, when my parents passed in 1999 she joined our canine crew and we spent many happy days with her. She, like Sprite gave all the love she could and just wanted to be a part of our family. She was our third rescue experience and I couldn’t have been more pleased with our pound dog companions. Each and every one was a joy to be around and a pleasure I wouldn’t have missed for the world. One often wonders how these wonderful dogs end up in shelters but they do.
I’m very active with donating to rescues and shelters and since my husband and I have no children a large portion of our estate will go to these organizations to continue to improve and keep up the good work, we’re even talked of setting up a fund to pay the vet bills for people who very often don’t have the financial means to pay for the necessary care for their pets and fellow family members.
I can only read a little of your book at a time. It brings home much of what we went through with our pets. I thank you for your courage to put your experience down on paper. I know not being alone in sadness doesn’t really help to ease the pain but knowing that so many of these companions are so loved so late in their lives gives me great consolation. Somehow I’ve always felt that these special animals know they’ve been given a second chance. My question to you is with all the exposure of your book did it ever perhaps bring Spite’s original family forward?
Thank you again for sharing your story,
Wendy from NY
February 10th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
To Wendy,
I read your story and am sorry to hear about your loss. We do have our beautiful memories that cannot be erased. I am so happy to know others like you and your husband also contribute your time, energy and resources in helping animals in shelters. These angels on earth either end up in shelters due to neglect or abuse. I too do not have children and currently contribute every month to the ASPCA and my wishes are that after my death this contribution continues. My next step to see how I can help on a political front to make all animal abuse cases be considered a felony (cases where people act knowlingly to hurt a animal ie. a case where I heard a man put gasoline on a kitten and lit it on fire with a match, the s of b should go to h). I in my late age am very passionate to try to help these defenseless animals.
I just want to thank you for your contributions and it is great to know there are people like you and I that do care.
Yes Virginia there is hope,
Virginia