|
ALEDO, Texas
Shortly after
Thomasa Jordan's
husband was deployed to
Iraq
in
June 2008
, life for the young military wife became increasingly
difficult.
She had a
5-year-old daughter and another baby on the way.
Pregnancy-related medical issues left her sick and
tired, and to make matters worse, she was feuding with
the family next door to her at
Fort Hood
.
So,
Jordan said, she decided to leave
Killeen, Texas
, and stay with her brother in
Virginia
until her husband returned home.
Only
there was no room for the family's beloved German
shepherds, Logan and Dixie.
"I
couldn't bring the dogs because the apartment I was
going to didn't have a back yard," said Jordan, 24.
"I started looking through the phone book and went
through 32 hours of searching. I called shelters, German
shepherd rescue agencies, anyplace I could think of
where they wouldn't get put down.
"Everything
was full or they wouldn't take them because of their
age."
Then,
Jordan said, someone told her about an organization that
fosters pets for military families, called Guardian
Angels for Soldier's Pet.
She
anxiously dialed the number.
A WAY TO
GIVE BACK
Barbara Lawrence
, 53, a doctor of internal medicine and an animal lover,
lives on 3 acres near
Aledo, Texas
.
Since the
Gulf War, she has been supporting America's troops by
writing them letters and sending care packages.
One day
last year, she said, she was browsing a Web site and saw
a link to Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pet.
That
March, she applied to become a foster pet parent,
specifying that she was willing to take a large dog.
"After
the initial excitement of the invasion wore off and
people turned back to their own lives, it didn't change
the fact that people were making huge sacrifices and
giving up things, such as their pets, to fulfill their
obligations," Lawrence explained. "I saw it
not only as something I could give to a service person
but to the family at home."
Seven
months later, Lawrence received a call from Guardian
Angels asking whether she would be willing to foster two
big dogs.
"At
that time, they had these clients the Jordans
with two adult German shepherds and they were trying to
place them," she said. "The Jordans had tried
hard to find a place for them and hadn't had any luck
and were resigned to giving up their pets."
A short
time later, Lawrence and
Thomasa Jordan
spoke by phone. Lawrence said she was eager to take
Logan and Dixie but was concerned how they would get
along with her new puppy, Dolly.
Jordan
offered to make the 2 1/2 -hour drive from
Killeen
to
Aledo
to see how the dogs interacted.
"She
was nine months pregnant and ready to deliver at any
time," Lawrence said. "I had visions of her
going into labor on
I-35
, so I drove to
Fort Hood
and met her and brought Dolly."
The dogs
got along fine.
Later
that day, Lawrence started back to
Aledo
with Dolly, Logan and Dixie.
"I
was so excited," Jordan said. "My husband
called and I got to tell him that I had found someone to
take both dogs together and that he was going to be able
to see them again. He said it was a godsend."
Five days
later, Jordan gave birth to their second daughter.
STAYING
IN TOUCH
Shortly
after she was released from the hospital, Jordan and her
daughters, Savannah and Shyanne, went back to Jordan's
hometown of
Hampton Roads, Va.
They
moved in with her brother and his family, who helped
care for her and the girls.
Lawrence,
meanwhile, routinely e-mailed Jordan pictures of Dixie
and Logan, which she forwarded to her husband in
Iraq
.
Lawrence
said the arrangement wasn't without challenges. Dixie
wasn't well socialized, and both dogs chased her
neighbor's horses, so they had to be moved, she said.
But the
rewards were great. Lawrence said it filled her heart to
see the German shepherds running across the field,
playing together. Logan loved the water, and both dogs
were affectionate and got along well with Dolly.
Best of
all, Lawrence said, she felt good knowing she was able
to help a young military mother.
"It
was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to handle a
5-year-old, a newborn and two large dogs," Lawrence
said. "I think it is just as important to help the
family at home as to support those who are abroad."
Husband
comes home
At the
end of July, after a 14-month deployment, Army Sgt.
Adam Jordan
, 28, returned home safely.
Lawrence,
realizing he needed some down time, offered to keep
Dixie and Logan a bit longer so that
Adam Jordan
could get to know his new daughter and the family could
take a vacation together.
"I
said, 'Take your time,'" she recalled.
On
Sept. 12
, the Jordans, ready to make their family whole again,
drove to
Aledo
to pick up Logan and Dixie.
It was a
heartwarming reunion. "They were extremely happy to
see us,"
Thomasa Jordan
said. "It was like no time had passed."
Lawrence
said the dogs, especially Dixie, stayed close to
Adam Jordan
.
"It
was obvious that Dixie had a strong bond with
Adam," Lawrence said. "She was a different
dog. She strikes me as the type of dog who bonds only
with one person. She was ecstatic to see him and would
not leave his side."
Even
though she had bonded with the dogs for 11 months,
Lawrence said she felt joy, not sadness, when they left.
"It
wasn't hard to let them go, because I could see how
happy their family was to have them back," said
Lawrence, who is now retired.
Adam Jordan
said he is grateful to Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pet
and especially to Lawrence.
"Those
are our babies," he said. "We don't love them
as much as our kids, but they are definitely part of the
family. They mean a lot to us. ... I'm very happy we are
all back together again."
He said
Lawrence insisted on paying for the dogs' food and vet
bills while he was in
Iraq
. When he met her, he told her he wanted to repay her.
She
wouldn't hear of it.
"She
said I had done enough,"
Adam Jordan
said.
ABOUT
GUARDIAN ANGELS FOR SOLDIER'S PET
Linda Dominik
, 62, founded the nonprofit organization with a friend
in
January 2005
after hearing about a soldier who was being deployed but
had no one to care for his dog. Since then, the
organization, which operates from Dominik's front room
in
Hot Springs, Ark.
, has helped more than 300 military families. Volunteers
match soldiers' pets with foster parents, who care for
the animal until the service member returns home.
The
organization has 67 pending requests from soldiers who
will deploy before the end of the year and are looking
for a home for their dog or cat.
56
soldier pets are with foster families now.
In the
last 18 months, 29 pets have been reunited with their
families.
The
organization is also raising money to start a pet
sanctuary, which would provide a temporary home to
service members' pets until a foster family can be
found.
Information:
guardianangelsforsoldierspet.org or 501-325-1591
Source:
Linda Dominik
|
