maryspecialneedsanimalsanctuary

From as far back as I can remember, I have always had a deep compassion for animals and those less fortunate. We were brought up to treat others
with respect no matter who they are or how different they are.

I think my love of animals began while my parents worked at the family hatchery next door and my babysitter most days would be boxes of baby
chicks. I can remember sitting under a big oak tree for hours on end holding those chicks and giving them all names. My Dad would bring home the
different colored ones for me to keep. I loved my chickens.   We always had a dog and of course cats. I loved to dress up my cats and push them
around in a baby carriage.

As I grew, my compassion for animals also grew and I began learning all I could on all types of animals and ways to help. I was forever reading any
literature, encyclopedias, National Geographics and all I could find.

My very first rescue animal was a chicken. We lived in a large poultry area in Sussex County Delaware and there were non-stop chickens falling from
the trucks on the way to slaughter.   I was on my way to work and this chicken was sitting directly in the middle of the road. I can't begin to count all of the
cars that ran over top of him and never stopped. I quickly spun around, ran out onto the highway and snatched him up. I named him Frank after Frank
Purdue. He turned out to be a rooster and was a bit grouchy, however he lived for six years.

I had the pleasure of working as a veterinary technician for seven years and it was the most incredible experience. Little did I know that knowledge I
gained from that would help me do the work I am today.

I started Delaware Animal Aid which helped to find homes for hundreds of Delaware's unwanted animals. Many times I would even help animals from
PA, MD and VA if needed.   There were only a few of us doing this back then and so many animals that needed our help. It was a challenge and
money short to help them all.   At this time a friend of mine asked me to help her down to Bethany Beach clean a couple of houses with her. Okay, no
big deal, I was helping a friend out. That weekend things changed for the better. I'm not too proud to hold a mop bucket and have the noses of the jet set
turned up at me when it comes to making good money and that we did. Let me tell you that $800 a week can help a lot of animals. We were dead tired,
but we got it done.
Another friend and I set out on a new venture as if my plate isn't always full enough and founded a therapy dog group. We had lots of volunteers and we
spent countless hours taking our dogs into nursing homes, rehab centers, mentally challenged centers, hospice and adult day care units. A couple of
us would go to the hospitals. My words can't describe how rewarding this was. People that were so sick or simply forgotten about would come to life,
talk about when they were young and rub the dog at the same time. Many would cry and I would bite my tongue so hard because I would never let
anyone see me cry, however that quickly changed and I learned to pack plenty of tissues. We'd all have a good cry together. One facility we went to
was horrible and so dirty. I said I would never go back after the first visit because it really bothered me seeing the people like that. I got a call about a
week later from the nurse calling on behalf of one of the patients that wanted to see me. I took a deep breathe and went back. This man was a lawyer
and he suffered from a stroke a year before that. His family had no time to care and stuck him in this place. He always saved a piece of bread in his
pocket for Ivy my dog. He said it makes him so happy to see her sit up and beg. Long conversations revealed that he had no reason to smile until we
came along. I would bake him cookies and sneak in a soda and sticky bun. He loved it. This man taught me one thing that I have continued to live by
to this day. A person is only as good as their word. If you give someone your word, unless you're dead, you stick to it.   The last night I left, he wasn't
feeling good and asked instead of coming back next week, would I come back in a couple of days to see him again. I said I would and left. As always,
I had twenty things going at once and did not get back there until the next week. I walked into an empty room. He had passed away and to this day I
can not let that go. Don't ever be to busy in life to make a difference in someone's life. You never know what little thing you say and do might just mean
the world to someone else.

In 2000 my Father suffered a massive stroke and gave the battle of his life for fourteen months. He was a very talented man and made model Eastern
Shore work boats from designs in his head. They were beautiful. A movie producer actually bought two of them to put in the movie Runaway Bride
with Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. If you look closely at the scene where Richard Gere goes to her house on the shelves in the background you will
see his boat. Again in her room you will see it.   At my Fathers service the pastor said something that really stuck with me and that was, "When God
gives you a talent, it's a sin to waste it".   This is what made me take a deeper look inside me and really put my talents to use.

Realizing a need for special needs animals we bought land in Western North Carolina in the foothills. Our home is lifetime refuge for less than perfect
animals and the Gretta's Wish pet food bank.
I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and it really hit me hard. It runs in my family and I was the youngest to get it. Well, I think 46 is young! I could
sit back and take all the medications that I feel would do more damage to other things or I could stand up and fight.
So, that is what I have done and I feel great. I have lost 34lbs. and I'm on a serious health kick.

I am a simple person that loves to be outdoors and I'm most at home out in the woods taking pictures. I love to cook, do all types of wood working, any
type of crafts, and most of all painting & sketching. I have never considered myself a true artist. I paint and draw from the heart!
I love being out in the wilderness and would rather have a tent in the woods any day over a big motor home.
Give me a good old movie (African Queen, The Blue Orchid or Love Affair) with a bag of popcorn curled up on the sofa and I'm happy. Love my old
black & white movies.
I'm an I Love Lucy nut and have a big collection of items.
My friends laugh at my music choices as I am a big fan of Sammy, Dean, Frank, George Gershwin, easy instrumentals, Conway Twitty, Mickey
Gilley (Put Your Dreams Away & That's All That Matters to Me), Montgomery/Gentry, Daughtry & Yanni.   I'm not a fast pace person anymore and
love the quiet life.

Having done this work for the past 27 years there has been no time for a real vacation, so I guess my one wish would be having the opportunity to
photograph grizzlies, moose, elk and eventually the Northern Lights.



		My photography & Drawings

	A couple of my recent pics......

I'll never bring about world peace. I won't single-handedly save the rain forest. I'm not a brain surgeon and I'll never transplant an organ to save a life. I don't have an ear of a powerful politician or world power. I can't end world hunger. I'm not a celebrity, and God knows I'm not glamorous. I'm not looked up by millions around the world. Very few people recognize my name. There are a lot of things I'll never do or become. No, I'm not a rocket scientist, but today I made a difference.. I saved an animal and I'll do it again tomorrow. I shall seek out the injured, and the old, the unloved, and the handicapped, and tend to them until their last days!

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