On December 19th of 2011 a dog was taken by authorities in Ft Worth, TX from some very bad people. Whoever the authorities were, I owe them my heart. On December 20th of 2011 pictures were posted of this same dog, on facebook. That day I sent her rescue picture home and asked Mary Lou if the girl in that picture could be our Christmas present that year. We talked about it that night over tears and beers and the next morning I contacted Ft Worth and began begging for our next Daughter. It wasn’t easy. They don’t take credit cards when it’s a high kill shelter and especially when the girl in the rescue picture gives every indication that she might be happier not being alive than to continue to live in her current state. They euthanize a lot in that area. As a result? I’ve met some very wonderful people from Ft Worth. I was wandering aimlessly trying to adopt her……and the adoption fee was only $49.00 and since it was Christmas season they were having a half off sale. I’m serious. $24.50 got me a Daughter, spaying and a microchip….but they would not take my credit card and then, because there is a God, the shelter called me, at my desk, at work, and said “Mr. Cardy, your friend is standing at the counter here and she says to take your credit card because if you don’t pay for it, she will.” At that time, I had no friends in Ft Worth. She still won’t take credit for her act of kindness but I know who it was. So…the first picture is the picture that allowed me to fall in love with my Daughter. Her leg had received a compound fracture that was never allowed medical attention. It healed as she nursed puppies and fought off attackers. Anyone reading this? Are you getting a feeling for how much I love my Daughter, Lovie? So, I’m anxious as hell to go get her. The shelter did not provide transport to a medical place and neither did the medical place but…..again, “a friend” made sure that my new Daughter was transported from the shelter to the medical place. There, she would stay and begin her recovery. She weighed 29 pounds on the day she was rescued. The second picture? That was taken on December 30th of 2011 when I first got to touch her. I was on the floor and crying my eyes out because I was so excited to be with her…..but it hit me instantly that she did not know love. She was emotionless as I hugged her. I knew right then that the worst sin of all had been committed against her. She had never known love. Never. She had endured more pain in her few years on this earth than any of us could imagine. She had never felt love. She must have figured that her purpose here was to merely endure pain and deliver puppies and nurture them and receive countless attacks while receiving no love in return. Two hours after I met my daughter, she began to respond to my voice and to my love. Neither of us have ever looked back. I would give anything to meet just one of the puppies that she delivered in her short life of “breeding stock”. She was heartworm positive. That’s not a good thing. Hadn’t life already hurt her enough? Those injections they receive to kill the heartworms? They are not pretty. She was ok for the first, which happened in January of 2012. In February of 2012 she received the second and third, 24 hours apart and I watched her cry. Hadn’t life dumped on her enough? She is such a strong, strong and lovely girl, my Daughter. Lovie. Lovie likes pancakes. So, that leg? We could not address that until she gained weight and got rid of those pesky heartworms. February of 2013, our little Princess went to Ohio State to receive reconstructive surgery on that leg. We had to leave her there for several days….and that was a very lonely time for us. Her surgery was to begin at 8:00am and was expected to last 4 hours. Since the fracture had to heal on its’ own, this resulted in a lot of built up scar tissue and the surgery ended up being nearly 7 hours. So, for the extra 3 hours that we were awaiting that call? When we left her there we had to sign consent forms that included agreeing to the fact that due to the severity of the surgery, etc, etc, that her little heart that had been attacked prior by heartworms…..might not survive the surgery. So, when you sign on that dotted line it doesn’t hit you, really, until that day when your Daughter is being altered. Mary Lou sent me an email from home to my work on that day, one hour after the 4 hours had expired, and it read “I’m so sick worrying about her I want to vomit”. After 7 hours, we were advised that our little girl had gone through a very, very lengthy surgery, which appeared very much to be successful…..to the point that the video of her reconstruction would probably be used to teach students in years to come, just how to fix a badly damaged leg. And? Everyone loved her. Everyone. Lovie had a medical staff and students-in-training….that fell in love with this little bait dog from Texas. And Lovie loved them back. Fast forward. Fast forward to now. Lovie weighs 60 pounds and I’m here to tell you that 59 of it is love. The other pound? I guess that’s just body fat. We all have a little extra, huh? I hereby invite anyone in the world, if you are ever in our neck of the woods, to visit 289 Bradley Road, in Stoneboro, PA….16153….to meet Lovie. My only caution is to wear old clothes. Reason? I do not ask Lovie not to jump on company. Lovie loves company. She acts like a puppy when company arrives. She jumps on company. Big time. I don’t ask her to behave. I do not ask her to “stay down”. Lovie has earned her stripes in life. She needs no warnings. She needs not be told not to be herself and do what she loves most in life….which is to love on people. I have no idea. No idea. I repeat….no idea, why she loves people so much, after what people did to her, but she does. Lovie? You are the best of what life offers us humans. You teach us to forgive. You teach us more than any learning institution that charges us a fee to learn, could possibly teach us. I am a Christian but you have taught me more than I ever learned in church or church classes and you did this because you were simply delivered to me in person. You were not words in a book or words in a classroom. You were, and are, the real deal. You are proof that good can conquer evil. You are the good. The evil is gone. You had thousands of us humans, on facebook, rooting for you. You won. You had thousands of people trying to help you. You had no idea, but you had people from around the globe trying to help you, when you were hurting. While you were sitting in a kennel in Ft Worth, Tx, probably just hoping that the Good Lord would take you and put an end to all of your suffering…..people on this earth were plotting ways to put an end to your suffering. I want all of those huge hearted people that were following you to know, that you are a happy and very much loved, healthy little girl. Your name is Lovie and you do your name justice. You made all of the efforts of thousands who were crying out for you, worth the time they spend in trying to help abused and lost souls. They still do it Lovie because there are thousands more like you out there this very minute, just needing a home and just needing to be loved. Me? I’m savoring the victory that is you Lovie. Three years ago, this day, I got to meet the girl of my dreams. I got to touch you for the first time. I got to ride in a car with you for a thousand miles or so. I got to sneak you into a “no-pets” hotel….or so along the way….because of who you are and because people will toss aside some rules when their hearts tell them to……When the kind lady that broke the rules for you that worked the front desk of the hotel….actually visited our room that second night? Thank you Lovie for bringing out the true hearts in humans Lovie. Humans hurt you, yet you heal humans. I love you with all of my heart. I am so proud to call you my Daughter. Lovie……I love you. Thank you for 3 years of life’s instruction and all of your love.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 18:59:29 +0000