Dear Ethan, 

Grammy said you asked about my birthday. I thought this would be a WONDERFUL time to tell the story of 

 ME

 Here I was at one of my birthday parties. 

My life with the family began like this ... 

Grams, Pops, your mom, Uncle Benj and Aunt Elisa had been looking around for a puppy for weeks. They would go from animal shelter to animal shelter looking for just the right puppy. They saw a lot of puppies but none of them were ... 

JUST RIGHT. 

Then Aunt Elisa had the revolutionary idea of ... are you ready for this? ... her idea was to PRAY!! 

That morning before they went to the Caswell County animal shelter they prayed to the God that loves us all so much. That He would lead them to a female with short white hair, a medium size dog. That was still a young pup.

Caswell County Animal Shelter

That day they went to the shelter in Yanceyville. They had been there several other times but they were trying again .. just to see if .. maybe. 

Maybe the puppy they were looking for would be there. 

AND GUESS WHAT??? 

That was the day they found me!!! 

I had been dropped off by my old family, they couldn't keep me and all my brothers and sisters so they took us to the animal shelter and left us there. 

I have to tell you ... I was pretty sad when they left us at the animal shelter. It is not very nice there. All the floors are concrete which makes them really cold. There is no soft carpet. No soft blankets AND there are so many dogs that need love that the workers don't have time to pat us all. So my brothers and sisters and I were together in a cold, damp cage. Feeling pretty sorry for ourselves.

That white one in the front is me. The other dogs around me were my brothers and sisters. I was the only one that was white. I remember sometimes I would get up on the piece of wood to get off of the cold floor. It was helpful actually. The food was PLAIN OLE dog biscuits. I don't mean to complain but I had been used to getting into the trash at my old place. They had lots of yummy leftovers in there but in here .. just plain dog food. 

That morning when I woke up .. a little stiff from the cold, hard floor .. I didn't know that was going to be a really good day. That was the day I was to find my new family. 

That was the same day that Aunt Elisa was praying that the family would find the 'Just Right" dog. (me) 

They came into the shelter ... looked into each of the cages until they finally came to mine. I think it was Uncle Benj that said "Look here is a white one, just like we prayed for" They found out I was a girl then Uncle Benj and Aunt Elisa got me out of the cage. 

They were allowed to take me into the fenced area to get to know me. I was feeling really shy. I did not know them. I didn't know that they had prayed for a dog just like me. I was used to being with my brothers and sisters. 

But, those two kids were pretty nice. I thought maybe they would be OK.

That night they went home and talked to Papa, he saw me through the cage bars that evening. He said YES!!!

Everyone was SO happy. The next day, early in the morning I got to come to my new home. 

This is a picture of Grammy holding me. She loved me from the very beginning. But she knew that in order to come into the house, to be part of the family. To get to have hugs and cuddles I needed to be cleaned. 

Into the bath I went. I have to tell you. I HATED IT. 

At my old house I never had to have a bath. I ran around outside, got filthy, ate trash

but now I was going to be civilized.

Become more of a little lady. 

Uncle Benj and Aunt Elisa will tell you that I was pretty darn gross. I had gobs of ticks on me. 

First Aunt Elisa got freaked out and ran out so Grammy and Uncle Benj worked at getting all the ticks off of me. They used tick soap. Lots of it. But I had been so wild that the ticks were all over me.

And then finally, Grammy and Uncle Benj got so tired of the slow process of tick after tick that it took Mr. Awesome Papa ... he's the one that will go step by step to get the job done right ... 

Papa finished the slow, gross task of cleaning me.

I knew then, that although I am a little afraid of him, that he is my hero and I love him. 

Now all clean ... ahhh ... it felt good. I think maybe it might have been the 

first time I can remember being that clean. 

That is when the cuddling and hugs started. I loved them. 

Uncle Benj and Aunt Elisa loved me so much and I loved them right back. 

I was so little and still scared. It didn't take long though for me to relax and feel quite at home.

I even got my own toy. It was the first toy I ever had. I didn't know exactly what to do with it, but Uncle Benj and Aunt Elisa would help me play with it. They would throw it or gently grab it from me. 

I also got my OWN bed. I loved it. I had my green football that I chewed, I had my white squeaky toy and my rawhide bone.  

I was happy. 

This last picture is of me. By this time I had become accustomed to love and attention 

and I wanted it ALL the time. 

My belly was fat from all the good food. My skin was pink because I was light complexion. 

All this happened around May 1st 2002. 

So, Grams has decided since we don't know my exact birth date we will use May 1st.

So, dear Ethan in answer to your original question my birthday is May 1st. 

I have one more picture .. cause we haven't seen your mom in the pictures yet

Your mom loved me too. 

I was kinda spoiled. But that's OK. I loved it. 

Love you all ...