Raising My Daughter In An Animal Sanctuary

The day my daughter was born was the happiest day of my life. Since I was 39-years-along when I had her, I was considered high-risk and my doctors watched me like a hawk to make sure me and my offspring stayed healthy.

I cut out coffee, walked for exercise, and followed an entirely new, strict health regimen given to me by experts we had consulted when we found out I was pregnant. We wanted to cover every base and sought out the best care we could afford.

We were going to give our daughter the best of ourselves which meant sacrificing what felt good for what sucked...

(No caffeine? Isn't that illegal in some states?)

THE BAD NEWS IS...my pregnancy was horrific. If there was a disorder or negative pregnancy symptom out there, I got it.

THE GOOD NEWS IS...Promise has been nothing but the picture of health her entire life and has been the easiest daughter in the world to raise. I guess God thought "She's had enough" and gave me a sleep-through-the-night baby, a well-behaved, respectful 5-year-old, an easy going and fun 9-year-old, an always forgiving tween, and a solid as a rock 16-year-old...

Who's the light of my life.

During the year prior to pregnancy, I had picked up an old habit that had been packed away on a shelf for a while. Something I had done for decades -- a passion I had listened to since the age of five...

I started rescuing animals again. If it was homeless or abused, my arms were open wide. Early on, we welcomed:

-- A young terrier I named Lovely who came to me with horrible injuries and stayed by my side for 14 years.

-- A 12-yr-old wolf mix I named Kid who had lived through more hell in his life than any creature I've ever seen and is now living out his last days with me as my favorite dog. Ever.

-- A black cat I named Smokey that strolled in one day and ended up being the best feline I've ever known. 

-- A Chihuahua mix named Brave Boy who became Promise's best friend. 

I watched my daughter give her whole heart to these magnificent creatures and saw the love they felt for her. These were magical years. A season of our lives that could never be repeated and I cherished every minute.

One day, I was driving on the Interstate when I had one of those Divine-Intervention-Moments. Seriously, it was pretty major. I pulled the car over and decided then and there to open an animal sanctuary. I named it On The Fifth Day and was the founder/director there for 12 years. I threw myself into it...

< Marketing

< Customer relations 

< Event planning

< Advertising

< Administrative duties

< Educating and helping the public

< Organizing, attending, and leading Board of Director meetings

< Answering the phones

< Billing

< Networking, and of course...

< Rescuing animals

I trained at Best Friends in Utah and completed the crazy-thick stack of documents necessary to open a nonprofit/501(c)3 and got our status. I stayed overwhelmed, but I was doing the thing I was meant to do. The gift God had given me, an intense love for animals, had always been there. I can't remember a time when I wasn't madly in love with them.  

My sister calls me Mrs. Doolittle. From the time I could walk, if there was a dog, a cat, a frog, or a turtle in my vicinity, my heart couldn't rest until I had loved on them and made sure they were safe.

I even seemed to have a bizarre connection with deer, cows, and many other non-domesticated sweeties. Even animals who preferred to be loners and who didn't really like anyone would make a beeline towards me when I walked into a room.

I've always felt a special bond and an almost physical pull that hits me any time I'm around a species other than human beings. It doesn't matter whether they're furry, finned, feathered, or scaled, I feel complete when I'm around them. 

I think I was born with a tail. 

And so by the time I was pregnant, I knew I was going to have a daughter who would always have a paw to hold when she needed one. I remember when she was about a month old, I laid her on the floor on her soft pallet. We had two large dogs at the time and they couldn't have been more gentle with her. 

They lied down on either side of her and drifted off into a deep sleep. I still have the picture I took that shows their large bodies, double her size, resting peacefully beside her. They respected her space but also wanted to protect her. 

As the years rolled by, Promise developed a love for animals that even rivals mine. I see it in her when she's around them and hear it in her voice when she's not.

From the time she was five, she has always said she wanted to be a veterinarian. That might change before she graduates but it's a forever memory that will always make me smile.

She has seen puppies and kittens being born and learned how to care for those that were hurting. But she has also felt the very real pain of seeing many animals drive away with their new family after we had raised and cherished them as our own.

As much as I wanted her to be like me and as deeply as I felt the pride, I also felt the helplessness when once I watched her grieve over a kitten that was too weak to survive. I saw her go through traumatic situations that can happen in the rescue business and hoped she wouldn't be scarred for life. 

But I don't have one regret for raising my daughter in an animal sanctuary. We laughed more than we ever would have. We experienced life with 20 puppies. At once! We felt pure unadulterated joy too many times to count.  

Our hearts grew with every life saved. We met those in our community who wanted us to succeed and felt their support. We formed relationships with our volunteers and one of them was even my maid of honor. 

On The Fifth Day seeped into every aspect of my life. We invested blood, sweat, and tears to save animals. And they gave back so much more. 

I hope Promise's memories of our efforts bring her more laughter than tears. I hope she never forgets the lessons she has learned from the animals. I hope she realizes that she's lived through an experience of a lifetime.

But most of all? I hope she knows that as much as I love animals, I could never love anything more than I love her.

#animalsanctuary #dogs #daughter #animals

Follow me at #AllThingsPromise