Hope

I understand a young woman had the idea for the adopt-athon and I couldn’t be happier.  I believe they had over 30 shelters and rescue groups in one place at one time, and more dogs than I could count.  (there was even a pony there!) 

I went to help Katie, but I did take the Chi’s from the hoarding case.  They were not exactly thrilled about the whole situation, but they were happy to be held even by strangers, as they were not to happy about being in the puppy pen.  lol  (They are just a bit spoiled now!) 

SooOOOOoo what do you do for your dogs at an adoption event with hundreds of other dogs there, to get them to stand out?  You get them Tutu’s of coarse.

And stood out they did!  The Tutu’s were a big hit with the other rescue people and for the dogs who didn’t mind them, they were walked with them on…….they were just fun and made everyone smile.

The event was a success, the Hope clinic who put it on said it will be an annual event and for me personally it was nothing short of a miracle because “Mama Dog”, my rescue from the abuse case last year was adopted.  She had been in Foster between me and Laura C, for a year.

The night before the event a neighbor knocked on Katie’s door, he had two puppies with him.  He had been driving down HWY 24 and saw the man in front of him slow down just enough to throw two dark objects out the window of a moving car.  He slowed to see what it was….

Some idiot had thrown them out like trash along a busy Highway.  (This is where I always say “I like my dogs better than most humans”, but you guys already know that.)  They survived and Katie took them to the event so maybe someone would meet them and fall in love with them.

They were a big hit with the little ones at the event, and soaked up all of the attention.  Even from the wee little ones who wanted to meet a puppy for the first time.

I’m so thankful for all of the people who work tirelessly to save “thrown away” animals lives, and thankful to the people who are open and willing to give a little furry creature a second chance at life.

 See you next year Hope!  🙂

Shelter Shots

 I spent last Saturday lurking around one of my favorite shelters.  A small, rural, poorly funded shelter……favorite because they almost NEVER put dogs down.  I donate my photography skills to help get dogs and cats adopted.  Nothing goes as planned when trying to photograph dog, cats and kittens……but sometimes you are able to catch a quiet moment of a purring cat…

I do my best to stay out of the way of the staff who are always so busy, however it’s hard.  I try to let the dogs and cats relax around me and snap a few photos…….I never know what I have ended up with until I get home.  I thought this was cute of the kittens.

This little lady didnt have a name yet at the time I shot this photo.  However now she has been given the name Pepper.  She was one of the hoarding dogs taken from the same place the three at my house were pulled from.  She spent her whole life outside, with only a blue barrel for shelter.  When she was pulled from the hoarders house, the tips of her ears were raw from fly bites.  Those open sores have healed.  She is fearful of humans and surprised me when she crawled over to me and semi-crawled into my lap.  (she won my heart at this very moment)  She is VERY bonded with the other elderly female dog she was house with her whole life.

This is her friend, and they are very, very bonded…..I am not sure how many years they spent in that pen, however what I do know, is those days are over.  She needs a good grooming and someone to love her.  She is a beautiful old dog, who deserves to spend the rest of her life curled up in someones house, on a soft fluffy bed.

The Shelter director said they would like to keep these two together and clearly understand that.  I know because of the fact they are not house trained and not yet good with people, the chance of them getting adopted is slim to none….So once I get these two Chi’s fixed and placed I am going to foster these two ladies.

I took photos of more dogs and cats on this day than I can post today, however here is a cat who was adopted after we posted my photos…..his name is “Patches” and he had been at the shelter for over a year.

I might not be able to take them ALL home, even when I want to…..but if taking these photos, and allowing the Shelter’s to use them, help get any animals adopted it is WELL worth my energy and time.

This little guy was dumped by his owner because of his “medical problems”, however his medical problems resulted from his human NOT giving him enough water.  They didnt want to give him water because they didnt want to clean up his accidents in the house. 

Sometimes you know the story behind how they ended up at the shelter, sometimes you dont.  This beautiful dog Oden was left at the Shelter by a man who clearly had loved him and taken good care of him, however he was headed to jail for a period of time.  He was very upset to leave him at the Shelter, but he was  adopted the week I posted these photos…..he was a GREAT dog and I knew someone would be thrilled to have him.

Oden

 So for now……when I visit the shelter and want to take them all home and cant…….I will just do some more Shelter Shots and pray that someone will look at the photos and find a forever friend they cant resist.

Remember:  Opt to Adopt!

Hoarding Case Dogs

It always starts with a phone call…….and because I had decided to lay low for a few months, I hadnt given my new number out to many people.  Didnt matter, cuz they knew how to get ahold of me anyway.  lol  I get a call, “They’ve got a hoarding case in -bleep- County and they need someone to help with some dogs.”  My only question is, “Are they big or little?”  Not that it matters but it is the only question that rolled out of my mouth.  She says “mainly little and I think they are in really bad shape, they have one that they think might not make it through the night.” 

My friend who calls me lives in a tiny town just outside of where I live.  I tell her I will head that way, and then we will drive together to another city about 40 minutes further South to meet Lindzy who not only was transporting the dogs to us, but she also was one of the people who went inside of the house when the dogs were pulled.

Once she arrived we got a tiny glimpse into the life of a hoarder….and it broke my heart.  Not only for the dogs, but my heart hurt for the man who seemed to have no clue what harm he was doing to these dogs.

 It was starting to grow dark, but it was clear that most of them were very thin and missing lots of fur…some missing all fur…some just seemed happy to be outta that hell hole, while others were too sick to do anything other than lay in the crate and look at  us.  This pull of dogs included 10 or so adult dogs and 4 tiny puppies.  They were going to try to go back the following day to removed 20 or so more.

Before they met us at transport, they had given them all a capstar because every one of them was overran with flea’s,(matter of fact the entire house was) and gave each one a medicated bath and trimmed nails. 

I had only planned on taking one……..as fate would have it, I brought home 3.  An old soul who is nearly naked, who looks very much like my Franny and two tiny black Chi’s.

 

We are currently taking it one day at a time…..and they have been with me for a total of 5 days now.  All three are eating and doing better than day one.  Lindzy told us of the horrid conditions in the house, the hoarder himself is 85 and a former back yard breader.  She said the conditions of the house were just like you see hoarders houses on Animal Planet.  Bad, very very bad.   The man suffered a stroke and the dogs were found by family members after he went into the hospital.

The older, larger dog who reminded me so much of Franny is also deaf.  He has lost most of his hair and what is left, is like long peach fuz.

The dogs are all covered in sores.  I started counting the sores on the female Chi, and I just stopped counting at 30.

For now they are working on getting healthy, eating good food, drinking as much clean water as they want, rolling in the grass and learning about being a dog, in a normal house……..

They seem to enjoy the sun, fresh air and a drink of water more than I can explain.  It is a shame that they had to live so many years without it.

A story

More often than not, rescue work makes me dislike humans even more; the ability some people have to dump and or harm animals never ceases to amaze me, not to mention hurt me to my core…….then again when I find really GOOD rescue people and or adopters, it helps remind me that there are still some good people left in the world.

I met my friend Katie well over a year ago.  She runs a “real” rescue along with her husband and children……everyone helps but she does the majority of the work.  I say “real” because they rescue tons of dogs from death row, and spend lots of time and money rehoming them all over the county.  Not that I am not a real rescue but my volume of furry souls that comes to my house is tiny in comparison.  One strong common rescue fiber we share is the fact we both pull the dogs in the worst shape…….the ones who are in horrible condition, the ones that not only adopters pass over but also the ones other rescue people walk past.  (Too much money to rehabilitate and rehome.)    Not to mention she rescues Pit Bulls, a breed that will always be near and dear to my heart.

She invited me over for Chili last night and to watch the kids set off fireworks.  To be honest I almost didn’t go, simply because it was SO d@mn HOT out (98 degrees) and I didn’t feel like doing anything other than stretching out on the couch and drinking a bottle of wine. (It’s been a long week)  Not to mention the fact, I normally prefer time with my animals over time with most humans.

BUT I said “yes” and went, I enjoyed the fireworks and good conversation……..not to mention the fact I got to meet the new rescue dogs.  I have met most of her current crew, even been with her when some of them were pulled from the shelters they originated in, however it has been months since I was there and she recently brought it several special needs dogs.  All of whom I wanted to meet.

1. A puppy who has three legs after being caught in an illegal hunting trap….she had been dumped by his human and lived in the woods prior to his rescue.
2. A bulldog who has severe skin issues.
3. A small mix breed dog who came in with a broken jaw and a broken hip…OH and severely matted.
4. A pit who had been tazed in the eye by a police officer during a house raid.
5. A large male Great Dane who was really malnourished.

I am glad I went.  I had a really nice time with Katie and family…….met all of the new rescue dogs, enjoyed the kids fireworks along with Mother Natures own fireworks (several hours of the best heat lightning I have ever seen…. while sitting out in the country under a dark big sky) and some excellent Chili. 

Sitting there looking at each dog as she brought them out to meet me, hurt my heart.  It is similar to the feeling I get while at the shelter, however without the feeling of desperation I often feel from the dogs when at a shelter.  This sensation was more like, “How did these animals get here, in such sad shape.”  It really is heart breaking.  Take the dog who came in with the broken jaw and hip……after some treatment, antibiotics and a total shave down he was feeling SO much better……granted he still has lots of health issues, skin issues and a large sore on his back end but watching him move around the living room trying to charm all of us one by one, to scratch his rump… let me know clearly he had been someone’s house dog at one time………so in my mind, I cant get past….”How did he get here in such bad shape?” What happened?   It seriously breaks my heart.

Some dogs come and you can tell then have never know the love of a human, they have never spent time in a house, etc.  Others come and after a few days it’s clear someone loved them at one time and they know all about living life in a house with a family.  Take my little rescue “Bently” for instance. 

He was pulled by my friend Tara from a horrible shelter.  After a few days of adjusting here, it was evident he had been loved by someone, he knew about going “bye bye”, knew he wanted to sleep with his human at night, and after a few days of reminders he was right back on track with being house trained.  So what happened?  Why was he dumped at that God awful shelter, who could leave a dog there that ever actually loved it? 

I often think with the older dogs, “maybe his human passed and the family members didn’t want him”………..that was the case this past winter with a tiny red Chihuahua that I pulled from a rural shelter.  His owner was 94 and went into a nursing home.  His family after taking this gentleman to the nursing home, then promptly dropped this tiny, elderly dog with two cataracts off at this very rural shelter in the middle of winter.  (*&^%$ A-holes)

All of my animals have stories……..at least partial stories. 

• Bear was left at the shelter a second time (he was adopted as a puppy) after he grew too large (24 lbs) to live with his family in an apartment, they claim the landlord made them get rid of him.  He was at the shelter 6 months prior to me pulling him and spent most of his time in a tiny cage.  He was so depressed for months following rescue he would barely hold his head up to look at me, and wouldn’t make eye contact, he wouldn’t eat if anyone was in the room and he hid if you looked at him.
• Oreo was a Bears friend at the shelter, he had been left in his crate prior to coming to the shelter for about 23 hours a day, this made him have issues with the tendons in his leggs.  He was a BBD (Big Black Dog) that no one wanted.  He and Bear were set to be put down the next day, had I not pulled them.
• Fuzz was in such bad shape when I pulled her, she was matted horrible and was so terrified at the shelter that we literally had to throw a coat over her to get her because she bit anyone that came near her……she came malnourished and traumatized.  She had a thyroid issue that had never been treated.  She now goes everywhere with me, even to work with me on the weekends…
• Winston also came to me in physically bad shape and the owners dropped him off at the shelter and told them that he had lived outdoors (for 11 years) because they couldn’t potty train him.  (He had to be sedated to be groomed, tried to bite anyone that came near him for months, needs daily eye drops……..and was house trained at my house within two weeks.  He learned to love me on his own terms and I adore him……….he is now a permanent resident because of his age, health issues and fact he would rather bite most people than look at them……oh yeah, and he’s blind. 
• Franny, was an escape artist at her former house, she came FULL of every kind of worm she could possibly get and was picked up by animal control several times, until her owner simply surrendered her.  (They didn’t want to pay the $25 fine to get her out)  She more than doubled her weight within 30 days of being at our house and has never tried to escape my fence in the 8 years she has lived here.
• And there is little Kiwi, the former Amish puppy mill dog.  He was in over all bad shape, had seizures and terrified when he came.  He had never know love of any sort and humans only meant harm to him…..it took him so long to love and trust.

I guess they all have stories…….but those stories, or lack thereof, never stop hurting my heart when I hear them… or I see them in that kennel at the shelter so broken mentally and physically. 

 Sometimes rescue work is so physically and financially draining on me, I often wonder how I can save another dog.   I often tell myself, “this is the last one, I just cant do it anymore”……….then I get that phone call from the shelter and I hear that next story……

Cats in my hat

During the winter…… during a routine trip to the shelter to pull dogs I ended up in the cat room.  BIG MISTAKE for a softie.  It is a room with maybe 50 small wire cages each holding one cat, the slightly larger cages hold two.  It was overwhelming.

I must admit going into this room was a mistake, my heart sank and I wanted to take them all home……..or at least let them all out.  🙂  I LOVE dogs but I also love cats.  I am always worried about bringing a cat to our house because of the dogs.  Not so much that the dogs would harm the cat, but more that the cats would hide under a bed in fear of a house full of dogs.  I dont want to traumatize the little buggers.

I walked through the cat room slowly, reading the cat cards on front of each cage….Name, age, reason for surrender and often a little something about the cat.  “Boo’s” card read, “Likes Dogs”.  I said to myself “LIKES DOGS?….Yeah, but what about 5 of them? Bet you wouldnt like 5 of them….”  I kept walking, observing, talking to them….wondering who had been there the longest.  Boo had been there over half a year…..I couldnt fathom being in that tiny cage for 6 months, only coming out in a small cardboard carrier for the cage to be cleaned.  Cats have always represented free spirits to me and all of those cats being confined to such a small space just broke my heart.

Now, this shelter loves it’s cats, dont get me wrong….they have a ton of them, and they run a prison cat program…….an awsome program, however all of those cats in those cages really hurt me.   I found out from my friend who pulls from that shelter more than I do, that the cats who had been there the longest were in a different area.  She said, “If they live here more than a year, they go to the cat room”.  Cat room?  *I wanted to see the cat room.

The cat room was a small room, with a window that faced the entry of the shelter, and a screen door that faced into the shelter lobby.  It housed maybe 10 plus cats.  They had scratching posts, beds, toys…….but I couldnt stop thinking about the fact that they had all been there a year or more.  I imagine that room felt like a mansion compaired to the tiny cage that had housed them for a year, but even the cat room felt small to me.

I slid through the entry door, holding back a cat who was just waiting to escape, and sat in the middle of the floor. I quickly became the most interesting thing in the room to most of the cats.  They had to sniff me and check me out one by one.  One hissed and skurried off, but most were interested in me long enough for me to pet them and give them a little scrach behind their ear.   Upon approval most slinked off to a favorite blanket or spot, however one remained……purring loudly and kneeding my Carhart jacket all over.  I mean it was a full on love fest in the cat room.  I sat in the room for almost an hour and was loved on the entire time.   I asked one of the girls who worked there how long this cat on my lap had been there and said said, “Oh I think 3 years or so”………I said, ” THREE YEARS???”

My heart felt like it rolled out of my chest and into my lap.  Three years in the shelter waiting on a family.  I couldnt belive it. 

Someone brought a dog into the temperment test it with the cats while I sat there with a cat on my lap (2 feet away) and she never flinched.  She gave a hoot less about that dog, turning her attention and glaze back at me with that squinty eye look that only a cat lover understands…..She said, “Oh I already love you” and continued kneeding me. 

Juju at home

My friend returned to the cat room and said “who’s that on your lap?”…….I just smiled and she said, “Is she going home with us too?”  I said “Yep”…….”Her and a black cat named “Boo”. 

So now I guess you can call me the cat Rescue Mama now too….. 🙂

Vacation

Vacation always makes me “check” my life….. what I really want out of life and somehow always reminds me where I’m heading……..it just always seems to give me a fresh perspective and I NEED that.

This past vacation (returning less than a week ago) did just that……….I traveled with two of my girls and enjoyed them immensely.  I stayed at my favorite Bed and Breakfast in Key West (The Angelina Guest House) flew straight into Key West and instead of renting a car, we rented bikes.  Key West is bike/moped friendly and to be honest you would have little use for a car if you stay in the heart of Key West as we do.  It is really hard to find a parking place and moving about on a bike or moped on the island is clearly a better choice.

I personally enjoy the pool the most at the bed and breakfast……….I miss having a pool and there is little more in life that I enjoy more than floating around in the pool on a hot summer day, with a cocktail in hand.  I make sure I am in the pool daily while there………actually we normally swim at night, and having the pool area and palm tree’s softly lit with just the perfect amount of lights makes it just that more enjoyable.  The ocean breeze, the hammock and the warm pool make the perfect outdoor getaway for me.  I enjoy it so much.  ~And miss it when I return home.

I must say that part of my draw to the Keys is the ocean.  Sure there is ocean all down the East Coast that I love but I am drawn to those beautiful turquoise blue waters that make snorkeling ideal.  I have been drawn to the ocean since I was a small child and that draw remains with me to this day.  Often on facebook I post “The Ocean is calling me”………and I mean it.  It truly is.  Being on or near the ocean makes me feel complete.  When I am away from the ocean I miss it to my core.  As much as I love it, I have a healthy fear for it as well.  I remember sleeping in the cockpit of the boat and looking out to the pitch black ocean at night and feeling how powerful it is………so powerful it’s downright scary.  That being said there is nowhere on earth that the sky is so big and beautiful and full of big bright stars than when on the ocean.  It’s hard to look out over the ocean and not put things into perspective.

 

 

Key West is full of diverse people and I love that.  The only two main drawbacks to Key West is #1, the cost of living is really high and #2, Tourism.  Tourism is I believe it’s nearly 85% of the economy so I guess it’s sort of one of those necessary evils  that people just HAVE to deal with there….it is an ugly truth about Key West that is very unappealing to me and I’m sure; to many of the people who live there.  You can avoid the touristy places like Duvall St, etc. but you can’t avoid the tourist on the street.  They are everywhere.  They often make any travel on the island either highly annoying or downright dangerous.

None the less, I miss it when I’m away………and I imagine one day you’ll find me right down there on a boat somewhere….. where the highway ends and the sun sets over the ocean.  I may never fully understand shy, but for some reason Key West is always calling me……..

Jump! Jump!

 

Sierah and I picked up Devon the other day to bring him home for a cookout.  We had just gotten done with a photo shoot with ptwo boys for Senior photos.  (Sierah is huge help when able to go with me so I drag her along when ever I can.)  I personally find boys harder to shoot.  They are often times really stiff and are always worried about looking to feminine.  *eye roll.

 

So on the way home Devon says,” I want you to take some photos of me Mom”…..I say “Right now?”………..he says “Yeah sure”……..I say “Do wanna jump for some photos?”….He was like “Sure why not??”……..Music to my ears so we just stopped at this random spot off of Broadway St on the way home and they jumped, over and over again…..PHEW they were tired and my face hurt from laughing……We came up with some fun stuff…..this was my favorite photo of the two of them jumping together.

 

"POW" "BAM"

 I’m not 100% why but people seem to love the jumping photos I take, and I have even had people say, “Before we finish the shoot I want to do a jumping photo”….lol……So they jump and I shoot……Here are a few of my favs (Other than the first photo, that is my most fav jumping photo ever and it’s of my son Devon………he’s got “ups”  🙂   Plus there is something just cool about that photo.

Here is Daisha jumping……..I just wanna know how can you be beautiful and jump at the same time?  Well, just ask Daisha, she knows how……..

Oh and Taryn, after her photo shoot was over we had to do a few jumping photos with her as well…..She looks like she is just floating along…..lalala

“Boing”

 

It’s a fun photo that makes me smile every time I see it.  🙂   We laughed the entire time we took these…..

 

Here is one of Sierah after we left a tatoo convention that was a total dud………we decided to do some jumping photos cuz I liked the lighting in the convention center…..the jumping photos we took were way better than that old stupid convention…….

 

 

SO if you have a camera, and you wanna have some fun……..find someone to JUMP! JUMP! for ya!  You cant help but laugh!

 

 

Japan

The phone rang at about 3:00 AM, it was my friend Trisha calling.  She said “Laura, did you see the news yet?”  She had a sence of urgency in her voice and I knew clearly something was wrong………”There has been an earthquake in Japan”……….My heart sank.  To be honest I had horrible images in my brain instantly,  but I hadn’t even come close to envisioning the enormous amount of destruction that had happened over there…. then I turned on the TV.

I literally ran for my computer and hit “Skype”.  I hadn’t talked to Acacia for a few days and that coupled with the images I had just seen nearly sent me over the edge instantly.  My baby girl………what of my baby?  (She may be 20 and a kick ass Marine, but she is still my baby)

Then she responded, “Hi Mommy!”  I cried with relief.  My Marine was ok…..thank the lord, she was safe. 

I sometimes struggle with the two girls being as far away as IU (3 1/2 half hour drive) but Acacia being SOOOO far away ~ half way around the world~ is harder than I could have ever imagined.  I still can hardly talk about her without crying ~ on a good day …….I miss her so much….

But every time I see more images of the devastation in Japan I am reminded of how blessed I am…..in so many ways.

Thank God she is okay and my heart is with Japan and it’s people

Mama Dog

I have a new soul in my care……an old soul named “Mama”.  I had a dream several days prior to her arival that I was calling a dog named “Mama”……….went to pick her up and Katie said “Her name is Daisy”.  We sat in her livingroom and discussed the neglect case surrounding her previous owners and I kept talking to her and calling her Daisy and she would never even look at me…..as soon as I said “Hey Mama, you ready to go?” she swung her head around and Katie said, “I guess Mama it is”…….

 

I have neglected to write about her for two reasons.  The largest one being I truly wasnt sure she would survive.  She was just THAT bad.

 

She is an elderly dog, severly malnourished, and has a severe upper respritory infection……..I simply didnt know if her broken body would be able to mend or if years of neglect and living outdoors without even adiquite shelter would take it’s toll.

 When I saw the photo taken of her at the shelter……..it broke my heart.  I couldnt leave her there…..this elderly, gray faced. boney dog….. who would adopt her?  No one it seemed, so I had Katie pull her.  Here she would gain weight and get healthy….

  

She was taken along with two other dogs, a pony, a horse, chickens, and other various farm animals as a result of all of the animals on the farm being severly neglected.  For Mama it seemed, they got there just in time.  I dont know how much longer she would have lasted.

 

Batteling the Kennel Cough has proven to be difficult.  She is now on her second round of antibiotics and I’m giving her some over the counter stuff for her cough….it does seem to help.  She is slowly getting better….slowly.

 

She is gaining weight and at the Vets office last week they said she had gone from 39 lbs to 44!  🙂  Even at 44 she is still way under weight……but we are headed in the right direction.  ~ But to be honest, I imagine she should be about 60 lbs.  She is still thin but you can no longer see any ribs…..she is filling out.

 

I am finally writing about her because I feel like we have turned that corner……she is getting better, gaining weight…happy.  She is an awsome dog, who deserves a loving, forever home! 

Those eyes

I feel like I have waited my entire life to do this photography work…..I LOVE it *whispers ( almost as much as I love the dogs!!)…..Once I do a shoot I spend long nights delving over photos, editing, cropping, burning, etc….I work on them for days and days…I just can’t get enough of them.  Then once I proclaim I’m finally finished editing a set of shots, I give it a few days rest and then go back over them with a fresh eye before I call it a wrap. 

Some photos I take a look back at, make me laugh… some make me want to cry, others just stir an emotion and I can’t really explain it……I look at them, and that photo takes me to another place.

Take this shoot for instance, I shot 3 of my friends grandchildren this day.  All of whom are darling, and one of the 3 little princesses is also severely autistic.  She seemed almost totally unaware I was even there, somehow in her own world, a world far , far away from where we were…..more interested in a bottle of bubbles that captured her attention, than having any photos taken by the lady following her around with a camera……

Taking the photos that day made me remember how blessed I was as a Mother with 5 healthy children, it made me wish I better understood autism…I felt ashamed I actually knew so little.

But just look at these incredibly beautiful, haunting eyes………

I knew our shoot wouldn’t be typical, but I do feel like the photos turned out nicely. 

 This next photo makes me laugh because these two  were being really silly….laughing and chatting ~ I had lots of fun with them but to be honest  the joyful expressions and non stop gabbing was a bitter reminder of the difference between these two and Savanna.

This next photo stirs an emotion I cant explain.  ~Right after I took this photo, Savanna came straight to me and gave me a big hug…….it welled such emotion in me it honestly threw me for a loop.  I had been there for hours,  hadn’t heard her murmur a sound or show a bit of emotion the entire time I was there.  Matter of fact, she spent most of her time  heading in the opposite direction, and then out of no where, this spontaneous sign of emotion towards me, it nearly made me cry…..

I dont know where it came from, but I loved it.  I love kids, and for some reason kids just love me…..Savanna was no exception!  I loved her right back!! After the hug she stepped away from me, I stretched out my finger to her and she reached out and held it…..I snapped the final photo…here it is….

 Editing the photos, I couldn’t get past those big, beautiful eyes.

I pray that one day soon they find a cure for autism, and they find all of those little souls in those far far away places.