do unto others...

i believe in many things but mostly i believe in what is real.
blood, sweat, tears, bodies, minds, hearts and that indefinable spirit that is unique to each individual.
we are organisms much the same as others and yet we are each different.

and that makes us special. that makes us alive.

every man, woman and child, each dog, cat, rabbit or goose..there is something inside us every one that is different than another who looks like us.

it is odd that sometimes sameness defines us but it is diversity that clarifies us in detail.

when we view each animal in our care as one of a kind, uniquely special, worthy of every effort we can possibly find..it makes the decision making a little bit easier.
there will always be regrets..fletcher's and lance's and mini me's....duke's, darby's, daisy's....unhappy endings in a world full of unhappy lives.
but not only do we need to keep trying, we need to not erase difficult moments, difficult lives. our failures to help or protect them was not their failure in life.

we will never be able to save them all..we won't even be able to save all the ones who come into our care. but we won't erase them from existence, from our thoughts, from our memories either.

every creature, human and animal deserves at least the thought of a second chance. exploring options, open discussions, brain storming solutions before that immovable brick wall that life is over is met. and if they finally must cross over that wall between continued life and death, we need to recognize their struggles, acknowledge their intrinsic value, shout out to the world the overwhelming grief, regret and sadness that even in their broken-ness, they were still heart wrenching beautiful.

death is not always the actual monster, sometimes life is.
but we never take the death of another for granted...for what we do know is...life is precious to each of us and each of us seeks to continue in hope that life can be better.

we really do try to make it better whenever we can.