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January 31, 2017
Gem Of The Day: "Seeing death as the
end of life is like seeing the horizon as
the end of the ocean."
~ David Searls ~
We are mourning the loss of another member
of our Board of Trustees and a beloved friend.
My heart is broken
and I know many of your's
will be too.
It was Dr. Donna Brown, PhD, of Baton Rouge,
Louisiana.
Donna was our Webmistress of our online auctions
for the past several years.
Donna suffered for four years with a terrible
disease, Aplastic Anemia.
She went home to be with God today, January
31, 2017, at 3:40 p.m. C.S.T.
The Hospice workers
were there with her.
It was a peaceful
passing.
She had just turned 68 years old on January
28, 2017, three days earlier.
Donna was my friend and confidant. She was
the one I would call almost daily in the
past two years, to say, "How are you
feeling?" and until recently, she would
answer, "Fine. I'm Fine."
Sometimes I'd ask
her that if I was
ever
losing it, would
she tell me, and
she always
told me she would.
Now she's gone and
I may never know
the answer
to that question.
I visited her in Baton Rouge on January 5.
I knew her time was short and I wanted to
see her one last time. One of our donors
covered my flight with their miles and another
covered my room.
She was expecting
me. I arrived late on Jan
4, a Wednesday night.
I called to tell her
that I was there,
in Baton Rouge and I would
see her in the morning.
That's when she told me that her heart dog,
Winston, had a stoke or neurological event
that same day, and she was going to have
to have him put to sleep the next day and
she was too sick to go be with him.
Many of you KNOW
Winston.
View his YouTube
video here.
Winston was the Small Paws Rescue Spokes Pup!
And THAT was the very day that God, and our airfare and hotel donors
had provided that I could be there for Donna
and for Winston.
Donna had no husband, children or siblings.
You know, our God's timing is so awesome.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
"There is a
time for everything,
and a season for
every activity under
the
heavens"
I called Donna's vet the next morning, and
asked if I could take Winston back to her
house so that Donna could say goodbye. It
was so good for both of them.
She held his little wobbly head up on her
chest, and he knew he was in his Momma's
arms.
Then, after a couple of hours, when he was
getting uncomfortable, she asked me to take
him.
I was there at the vet, holding his little
body
when he went home
to God.
I did this for my friend. For our friend
and for her boy, Winston.
A friend who has done so very much for Small
Paws over so many years. She was there on
the old AOL Bichon Board back in 1998 at
our inception.
Donna took all of the treatments offered,
but was not a candidate for a bone marrow
transplant, as she was an only child and
the bone marrow transplants only work about
half of the time and that is with a sibling.
Donna was dying and only our Board knew it.
That was her express wish.
She wanted no service or pictures of her
used.
Bonnie and I will travel to Baton Rouge to
get her two Bichons, Emma and Gabby.
This was a promise I made to her, that I
would be the one to come for them. She asked
that it be me and I promised her.
She knew where they
were going to be fostered
and she was so happy
to know that.
We'll have them ready to fly after some routine
vetting that will take a day or two.
Donna didn't have much left by the time she
passed, due to this terrible illness.
But she has left
a collection of many beautiful
Bichon items, that
she wanted to be auctioned
in our next auction.
Her Aunt has asked us to please come and
get them.
There are many boxes that will need to be
packed and shipped back to our Board members,
to be photographed and entered in our next
Spring Auction, in Donna's name.
Bonnie Ferguson and
I are going to go to
her home, and pack
these items up, and take
them to UPS.
Our airfare is being provided by donors with
their milage and hotel points.
This makes two Board Members and very dear
and much loved personal friends to Small
Paws and to me, who have passed in less than
four months.
Lynda DeHart and Donna Brown.
Small Pawser Bekye Eckert is going to be
fostering Donna's two Bichons, and Donna
was so happy to know about that. It was one
of the last things she said when she heard
this news. She said, "Great!"
Donna hasn't been
conscious for many days.
I know she expressed concerned about fulfilling
her Board position.
What Donna would have loved, is that our
Board has unanimously asked Bekye Eckert
to join our Board of Trustees.
We've know Bekye
from the beginning.
I want you to know her too. This is a Bio
from Bekye.
Bekye Eckert
Hampstead, MD
living_floor_mops@yahoo.com
Inspired by Robin Pressnall's message of
faith and rescue, Bekye joined Small Paws
as a volunteer in 1999. Bekye has adopted
three Bichons from Small Paws: Robin Faith
(9/20/02 - 9/17/14), Willie and Beau, and
has fostered many others over the years.
With Robin as her mentor she founded a regional
rescue in the Midwest, saving over 1,100
small breed dogs during her four years' leadership.
Now living on the East Coast, Bekye works
in circulation at the Westminster Branch
of the Carroll County Public Library system
and, with her husband John, cares for senior,
special needs, and hospice dogs, and watches
a lot of football.
Bekye & the Living
Floor Mops
This is another story I wrote about Bekye.
From February of 2003.
As Bonnie and I prepare to go to take care
of Donna's precious Bichons, Gabby and Emma,
and to ship the many Bichon items she has
left to Small Paws, please pray for us.
Though we have known this was coming from
the start, when it actually happened today,
it has hit us all hard.
Please forgive us for not saying anything
earlier, but we were following Donna's explicit
wishes.
Grief is an odd thing. It's different for
each person.
"If I should
ever leave you whom
I love
To go along the Silent
Way, grieve not,
Nor speak of me with
tears, but laugh
and
talk
Of me as if I were
beside you, for
Who knows but that
I shall be oftentimes?
~Isla Paschal Richardson
(1886–1971), "To
Those I Love,"
in The Rotarian, June
1943"
All My Love, Robin
To make a one time donation, or a monthly
donation to Small Paws Rescue, you may use
your major credit card securely, at this
site.
Louie Bertolino
If you've made a
past donation by
credit
card, you may e-mail
Louie Bertolino at
louieb@smallpawsrescue.org
to let him know the
amount of your donation
for the Bichons.
You may also call
Louie on his cell
phone
at 1-337-3BICHON
(1-337-324-2466)
or (1-424-442-9484
Louie is on Eastern
Standard Time! He
is
waiting for your
call!
(Please leave a message
and Louie will return
your call if he is
not available!)
You may also send
a check or money
order
to:
Small Paws Rescue
Inc.
3316 S. 72nd. W.
Ave.
Tulsa, Ok. 74107
See Vet Bills Paid by Small Paws Rescue for the First 16 Days of January, 2017, coming
to $14,671.63, an average of $916.98 per
day.
Click on the Bichon puppy to see page 2 of
the Small Paws Rescue Newsletter for adoption
information.
Dear Small Pawsers,
Welcome to the Small Paws Rescue Online Newsletter, especially to those of
you who may have seen us over the years on
our guest appearances on Fox and Friends in New York City, or on Animal Planet on "Dogs 101.", or you may have read about us in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Happiness,
101 Stories about Finding Your Purpose, Passion
and Joy . You also may have seen us on "Inside Edition" with Deborah Norville! (To see backstage photos of one of our trips
to NYC and Fox & Friends, click here.)
Also, Small Paws Was Featured on "The Chicken Soup for the Soul Podcast" on March 25, 2016. It's was an interview
of how Small Paws Rescue was born, almost
19 years ago.
If you missed our previous newsletter,this is the link!
If you would like to share this newsletter,
this is the link!
Support SPR by shopping at Amazon with this
link!
As of yesterday, Small Paws has received
$4,771.13 as a result of you shopping at
Amazon, through Amazon Smiles with Small Paws chosen as your
charity! It all adds up!
Companies Who Match Employees Donations
If you are going
to shop at great
stores
anyway, why not help
SPR at the same time
and use Igive.com?
Join now for free
and
select Small Paws
Rescue Inc. as your
cause!
This is the link to sign up for Small Paws
Rescue!
The iGive Support
Team
P.S. If you want
to track how your
cause
is doing, please
visit http://www.iGive.com//html/causestats.cfm.
We have links up
there to our SPR Cafe Press Store for SPR Logo Items.
Try GoodSearch.com
as your search engine
and as your online
shopping portal!
Small Paws is signed
up and each time
you
use it, either to
search or to go to
an online
seller, funds are
sent to Small Paws
for
the Bichons! You
can buy those shoes
at Zappos
and those books at
Amazon *AND* donate
to
Small Paws Rescue!
Try it out! So far,
Small
Pawsers have done
over 100,000 searches
and
have shopped to raise
$$2,641.38 for Small
Paws Rescue!
How to Become a Much Needed Small Paws Rescue
Foster Parent!
See how we REALLY feel about our volunteers!
(Always remember. God loves you more than
anyone else ever has,
and more than anyone
else ever will!)
Prayer Requests and
Reports
Please pray for our
Small Paws Family.
We are hurting.
Donna is no longer hurting and the pain is
gone!
Thank you Jesus!
Humphrey Sisco
Dec 26, 1993~ Aug
30, 2006
When I first saw
this beautiful picture
of
Cheri Sisco's "Humphrey",
I thought
it was truly the
epitome of what we
do, and
why we do it. I wanted
to use this black
and white picture
of Humphrey, taken
only
days before his death
due to congestive
heart
failure, to let those
who may be new to
Small
Paws, know what we
do and why we do
it. Without
Small Paws, Humphrey
would have never
known
love. He would have
died in a kill shelter,
sick and alone. Because
of Small Paws, and
Cheri Sisco, he lived,
he loved, and he
smiled.
(All recipients of the Small Paws Rescue
newsletter receive it voluntarily. Small
Paws never gleans e-mail addresses from other
e-mail lists. Small Paws never solicits e-mail
addresses or shares them with other "lists"
or organizations.)
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