The Raccoon Who Chose Me and Stayed Until Her Last Breath
I rescued NAWTY when she was just 2 days old. Tiny. Helpless. Barely viable. The kind of rescue where survival is uncertain and every day that she lived was a small miracle. […]
The Golden Retriever Who Believes in Wings
This is Bob, a golden retriever who became father to eight orphaned birds. Not by accident. Not because someone forced the arrangement. But because Bob saw small creatures who needed care and […]
When an Autistic Boy Walked Into a Restaurant Hungry, They Gave Him Home
My husband sent our autistic son into Sun Restaurant to get a takeout menu. Simple task. Practice for independence. They’d worked on it in the car first—what to say, how to ask, […]
The Walmart Stranger Who Paid It Forward Because Humor Still Exists
At Walmart, I joked with the stranger behind me to go ahead since I was on the phone. Small interaction. The kind that happens a thousand times a day in checkout lines. […]
The Narrowest River That Teaches the Most Beautiful Lesson
While the Amazon River spans up to 25 miles wide, China’s Hualai River is so narrow you can jump across it. The contrast is almost absurd. One river so vast that seeing […]
The Shelter Cat No One Wanted Who Learned to Trust Again
Luna sat alone at the shelter, abandoned multiple times. Not once. Multiple times. Brought in, adopted, returned. Brought in, adopted, returned. Each cycle teaching her that humans don’t stay. That homes aren’t […]
While Everyone Honked, One Man Stopped to Save a Life
For 5 minutes, drivers honked and yelled at a white Chevy blocking the lane. Angry. Impatient. Convinced this was inconsiderate parking or someone texting or one of the thousand annoying things that […]
The Valedictorian Who Studied by Dim Lights in Shelters
For twelve years, Griffin Furlong had no home. Not temporarily. Not for a season. For twelve years—nearly his entire childhood and adolescence—he had no place that was his. No bedroom to retreat […]
Decades Later, Still Searching for the Woman Who Saw Me
At nine in a foster home, I didn’t speak a word of English and cried every night. Everything was foreign—the language, the food, the rules, the people. I was alone in ways […]
A Six-Year-Old Teaching His Mother How Men Should Treat Women
Once a month, my 6-year-old son takes me on a dinner date. Not a casual meal at home. A real date. At a restaurant. With planning and intention and all the elements […]