It is not easy to remember that I can only make a small difference and save one animal at a time. Oftentimes it is too overwhelming to walk through the pound and see all the neglect, and suffering and realize that those animals that I leave there will die there, alone, not knowing why. It is almost equally as daunting to get countless emails everyday begging me to take animals because of: a child's allergy, the loss of a home, a job, the end of a marriage, or some other reason and each time respond, "I am sorry but we are full"...not that it isn't true but because it doesn't feel like it is enough.
And then the animals that I do bring into my home, I love and care for and then when I find a home for them I lose a little piece of myself. It has become increasingly difficult to let go over and over again. I don't know for sure why this is, I only that it is. Perhaps it is the animals that have stayed with me over a year because, for whatever reason, nobody wants them, or maybe it is because of the failure that I feel for those animals that I have not been able to save. This past year has undoubtedly been the most difficult and heart wrenching year for me, so as I approach my 9th year focusing on a cause that is so important to me I am reminded that many people have causes that are also important to them and must experience the same sense of failure that I oftentimes do, so I would like to share this little poem with you as a reminder that though it so many times seems we are not doing enough....we ARE making a difference.
The Starfish Story
Original Story by: Loren Eisley
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”
I made a difference for that one.”
