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HOW "YES" CHANGES LIVES
Before I gush about one of the most amazing men I've ever met, I want to express my appreciation for the many wonderful and heartwarming birthday messages (and pet photos!) that you shared with me last week. Forty sounds old, but there are way too many lives that need changing to waste time dwelling on such a number! :)
Speaking of changing lives, I want to build upon the legacy theme that Marcus introduced in his recent email. If you need a quick refresher, Marcus posed an introspective question in relation to HEA's NEW Dancing with Our Stars song selection – "How Did You Love?" by Shinedown.
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BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
Marcus' email mentioned my first serious boyfriend. This was a high school boyfriend, so when it came to an end, I cried (a lot). And while I was sad about my revised relationship status, I recall being most upset about no longer being able to care for the mother cat and her six kittens that lived in my boyfriend's family's barn. I was smitten with those kittens, and I was unable to come to grips with leaving them behind. So, I took matters into my own hands!
As a pet-loving member of humanity, I proceeded to find homes for five of the kittens. I approached my grandpa (Lester Bork) to ask him if he would give the other two a place to live. I knew that he would not want the cats living in his house, but Grandpa had a workshop. It all seemed obvious and logical to me – these barn cats needed to become Grandpa's shop cats. I posed the question, and Grandpa said "yes" to Aphrodite and Odin taking up residence in his shop.
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Disclaimer: While my actions were well-intended, I missed one critically important step in giving the rest of the "free" kittens away. Sure, I found new homes for them, but none of them were spayed and neutered when I gave them away. Knowing what I know now, I would have figured out a way to make sure that all seven (7) of these felines were spayed or neutered.
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My experience: My heart shatters for the cats each time we encounter a new situation needing attention – and it's typically 365 days per year (and most days its multiple times per day). I've lived it for almost 19 years; the massive amounts of stress that shelter workers and volunteers experience because of an out-of-control unaltered cat population is heartbreaking – not to mention the extreme financial burden that a never-ending supply of kittens place on the entire shelter system.
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STARTING FROM NOTHING
In the years that followed, Aphrodite and Odin became constant companions to Grandpa. I didn't realize it at the time, but I suspect that Grandpa's relationship with Aphrodite and Odin influenced his answer to my next question.
The state of companion animal welfare was ugly when my parents agreed to co-found HEA with me. Many of our nation's shelters were euthanizing 50% (or more!!) of the animals that were entering their doors – our local community was not exempt.
Within minutes of finding Walter (HEA's first rescue), I declared, "It's starting now!" And did it ever. When we introduced HEA to the public, my parents and I still lived in my childhood home in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Without a building to operate from, intake initially happened in our house.
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Maybe I was a bit naive at the time, I was 21 years old after all, and I definitely underestimated just how quickly word would spread of an alternative to a system that was killing 50% of cats and dogs.
It probably goes without saying, but it didn't take long for us to accumulate a large population of dogs and cats. My parents were both still working full-time jobs, and I had a full course load at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. As you might imagine, tension was rising, and my mom demanded a solution to our space constraints. I guess that was all I needed to hear.
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GRANDPA'S EMPTY BARN
As I pondered options, I kept replaying memories from my childhood visits to Grandpa's barn – the large sliding barnwood door, the neatly stacked hay bales, the old tractors, the pigeon poop that covered nearly every square inch of the floor, and the sound of my voice bouncing off of the concrete walls in the silo. While I was growing up, I remember telling myself, "Someday I'm going to do something with this barn."
My stroll down memory lane made one thing clear, that empty barn was destined to become the Sanctuary. You already know that Grandpa said "yes" when I asked him if HEA could establish its early roots inside of his barn, but what you may not know is how this changed his life.
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HOW DID GRANDPA LOVE?
With every fiber in his being, Grandpa valued companionship.
Grandpa was 87 years old when he agreed to the Sanctuary venture. After 22 years of marriage, my grandma had passed away just 18 months before I proposed this wild idea. And this was the second time he was experiencing this kind of heart-breaking loss. His first wife (my maternal grandmother), passed away two days before Christmas when my brother Marcus was just a year old.
The way I see it, we sort of "rescued" Grandpa at a time when he was completely alone and looking for purpose.
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Shortly after I moved in with Grandpa, his energy returned, his smile was bright again, and he cherished every day we shared together. He adored each and every relationship that he established with the volunteers and members of the public who visited his homestead. He wanted to know every story of every dog or cat that he met. And it makes me smile to say that his established belief that "animals don't belong in the house" changed quickly.
Grandpa passed away in May 2013 at the age of 93. The fact that I'm writing this message more than 11 years after his passing tells you that his legacy is definitely alive in the work of HEA's mission, in the people he met and inspired along his journey, and certainly in who I am today. I know that he never fully understood the magnitude of his impact, but it is and always will be significant in the world of companion animal welfare, and it all started with a simple "Yes."
Thank you for everything, Grandpa! I miss you, I love you, and I will be forever grateful for your selflessness as HEA got its start.
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Amanda Reitz
Founder & Lester's granddaughter
P.S. Lisa Metcalf's NEW Dancing with Our Stars dancer bio is impressive; I'd read it if I were you. :) Also, Marcus will be sending a very heartfelt message later this week that will connect all of us to the namesake of the New Dancing with Our Stars Jim Rivett Memorial Mirrorball Trophy.
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- In loving memory of Dean & Nicole Ekberg
- In loving memory of Justin Bork
- Martha Morse Beck Von Peccoz Animal PLC Foundation
- In loving memory of Sam Holland
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