Hi My Two-Legged Readers (not cuz animals can’t read, but cuz this one is for my human readers)...

It is Ellie Mae here for the last time in 2016. What an amazing year it has been. i will remember 2016 as the year i nearly died in a ratty, desolate field alone.

I was rescued by the angels of “Cuz i Matter” Animal Rescue and delivered nine sweet souls into the world. One, which went ahead to the Rainbow Bridge to prepare for our eventual reunion (hi sweet bug).

i was nursed back to amazing health. i watched every one of my fuzz butts find forever homes. i was given a blog (this one you are reading)! AND i received the best present of all…a forever home!!! (This is them and me. Aren't they beautiful?)

A forever home…that is what i want to focus on today. i might have to take a few breaks when my eyes leak, but that is OK. This is important to share cuz it comes from my heart. Forever homes are the end all be all to an animal. To find your people and have the opportunity to shower them with love, hair and sometimes a little drool…well that is what life is for.

When you are born into this life, you really have no idea what is coming. You know some very basic things like it feels good when you eat, drink and feel the warmth of another. However, you don’t know what it is like to NOT have basic things. Lots of people take those things for granted. i don’t think most people really know what it feels like to not eat for a few days or even weeks.

They don’t know what it is like to scout around desperately looking for a puddle of water to wet your mouth enough to ease that burning feeling.

They don’t realize how much having the touch and warmth of another living being can heal the brokenness that permeates the rest of your body.

As many of you know, I do know these struggles. i also know there are so many like me out there right now...thirsty, hungry and heartbroken. This doesn’t just happen to dogs, it happens to cats too.

And those aren’t the only struggles that animals face. i’ve written about some of them in other blogs. When a dog or cat does have a family, a person, a place to call home and that place disappears, well that too can be devastating. Sometimes even more so than being a puppy born on the streets. Dogs and cats are loyal. They attach. They love with their whole beings. They find so much of their inner joy from just getting to see your face every day. The reason dogs act like you have been gone for a week when you get home from work or even if you’ve been gone for five minutes, is because seeing you, smelling you, hearing your voice creates joy in their brains.

They simply allow themselves to react with reckless abandon to that joy. It is the same joy you see in babies or small children when they see mom or dad after a long or short break. Elation. Joy. "Rightness." Can you imagine what your child would feel if you took him or her to a loud, gray building one day and said, "Good-bye."

How confused would they be if you told them they would no longer be allowed in the house? That the only time they could see you would be if you decided to come outside once a week to throw down some kibble and water?

What they would do if you drove out to the country, opened up your car door and said, "Get out!" then took off?

Can you image how horrendous that would feel? How devastating? Trust me, what you can imagine isn’t even close to what it feels like. It is terror, sadness, despair, confusion…it feels worse than death. Everything you knew, loved, counted on and trusted – gone. Gone...

The only thing that can make the horrors of being surrendered, abandoned, shunned, forgotten, neglected or abused less painful is the chance at another loving home. Yes, most cats and dogs are eternally hopeful. They live through the despair and heartbreak and are STILL willing to love again.

They are willing to let the evils and wrongs of the past go. They want to trust you. They want to love you. They want to forgive. The truth of a rescue is that they often love even more. They love even deeper.

They see and understand that this new person has done something beyond given them a home. They know their life was saved. Their person kept them from being killed. They kept them from those horrible hunger pains in their stomachs or that wretched dryness in their throats. They gave them access to the most luxurious feeling that is out there…love.

Opening up your home to a forgotten animal is truly the best present you can give. Not just to the animal, but to yourself. The bond that is possible is beyond description. i know how fiercely i love my new mom and dad. They are my people. i am their dog. There is nothing that i wouldn’t do for them. i was saved. i want that for all my fellow canines and felines.

Even when it takes a little while longer for a dog or cat that has been through very hard times to warm up and trust, all they ask for is patience. They want to trust. They want to love. They will in time and the payout cannot be calculated. The kind of joy you feel when you rescue a life isn’t just a warmth, it is an explosion you feel in your heart, your throat and your gut.

This holiday season please consider giving the best gift you can ever give or receive. Provide a furry soul a forever home. You truly will understand what it means to be blessed.

Peace, Love, Bells and Tails,

Ellie Mae

The Best Present of All

Ellie Mae- writer, dog, happy

Surviving Parvovirus

"Adopt a Senior Month" Shout Out

Till Death Do Us Part

Ellie Mae for Pawsident

How Being a Foster for a Rescue Rocks Gibraltar

Got TIME? Want More...Read on!