A very heartfelt post from Director and Founder of DCIN, Venita Wood. I share with you, our DCIN friends, fans and supporters and hope that she knows how deeply and truly we do care about DCIN but more importantly about her. ~Jennifer J.
It is 7:30 am and I have been working on DCIN since 4am. I haven't made a dent in today's "to do" list. DCIN's accounting is only updated through mid-December. I have 940 emails in my inbox, 296 of them are unread.
I have a burr under my saddle from a DCIN client who emailed me that I was not showing enough concern for her cat's health condition. I agree that I likely wasn't, but I received that email the day I made an appointment with my vet to come to the house to euthanize Ennis. So I never responded to it.
I spent the past weekend holding and helping Ennis physically move from Point A to Point B. Ennis could not walk without falling. Most of the time, Point A was the seat of my recliner, where I was holding and petting him. Sometimes Point B was the litter box. Sometimes, Point B was my bed where Ennis was accustomed to having his food. Going up to and down off the bed, Ennis had steps at the end--steps that I built from a footstool and two different heights of Rubbermaid containers. I put child rails on the sides of the bed so that Ennis could not jump down from the sides. The past couple weeks, when Ennis had tried to jump from the sides of the bed he would "thump" to the floor and look at me as though I had betrayed him.
On Monday, I held Ennis gently on my lap while his vet caringly sent him to the Rainbow Bridge. I had a padded box ready for his body, and Dr. R took Ennis away in that.
On Wednesday when I returned to DCIN work, there were two cats with emergent medical conditions that I took on as cases. They both died--Kale from plural effusion and Puma from DKA. There was another communication from the burr-under-the-saddle client. DCIN friends Ann, Gayle, and Steve lost Gustav, Shadoe, and Rorschach. This week has been a major train wreck for me.
There have been times that I have asked myself and asked others whether I should shut DCIN down. DCIN has awesome case managers and significant support from its friends. But this week I received criticism from someone saying that DCIN is not appropriately managing its mission and wasting its precious resources in various ways (with details given). When critical commentary comes from those who help DCIN with projects or money, I respond with reasoning or corrective action. But when it comes from a person who stands at the border and casts stones, I wonder why her ego and the ego of her friends who stand behind her and shout "YES!" are so threatened by DCIN's work.
It has been a suck-ass week. My life would have been so much better off if I hadn't experienced the past seven days. I would gladly give them back to the universe as a mulligan. Just strike the third week of March, 2012, off my life calendar.
~Venita, the sometimes reluctant Founder and Director of DCIN.
Dearest Venita (and ALL the DCIN volunteers),
ReplyDeleteThis week will have to go down in the books as one that stinks big time, and just look forward to better days; they WILL come. All of us out here (well, not counting Ms. Burr-Under-The-Saddle; don't you hate hyphenated names??) love you and revere you for your devotion to the work you do, the animals you save, and the people you work with and help. I'm certain none of us has any idea just how burdensome this can be for you, but God above knows your works, and I can hear Him whispering to you, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Try not to let yourself be too discouraged by the few bad apples - the rest of us love, support and appreciate you and everything you do. Hang tight, sweet friend!
Love and hugs,
Marty
Ruthie, Stormy and Smokey
Venita,
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about Ennis. I burst into tears when I read your bit about Ennis getting off the bed. The same thing happened with my Grady as he declined. As well, Grady went to the bridge on my lap in my home three years ago (3/23/2009) on a Monday after the bed event and having to help him get from A to B let me know that it was time for me to keep my promise to him. I did. And you did, too - with Ennis. It sucks. But it was the right thing to do.
Regarding haters: ignore them. Some people just can't find their own worth unless they find fault with others. They can't be helped, they will always be that way, and most important - they aren't helpful. So just ignore them. Period.
Rena
Sorry for your lousy week. I hope I have your strength with my Jr. He was just diagnosed today and I (we) are glad that there are avenues to explore and learn from. You are doing a wonderful job.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being here.
Bobby
This may not help much nor give you much comfort but about every rescue (that worth a damn) goes through this. It would be wonderful if people first got a clue before shooting off at the mouth but they don't and they won't. People think that just because they contact a rescue that the rescue should be at their beck and call and that you should act and feel as if they are doing you some sort of favor. They forget the universe does NOT revolve around them. Most of the time when we get these critisizm (DAILY) I try to remember they act like idiots because most know deep down in their heart THEY are the ones not stepping up and they are not doing all they truly can and they make excuses and get angry because it is easier to be angry at a computer than to look in the mirror and blame the true culprit. Tak edeep breaths Venita (((((HUGS HEARTS AND HOPE) Please dont ever give up and dont ever regret. Its easy for some to turn the blind eye but not for people like you. You have meant the world to so many and you still mean the world now. Ennis is so very proud of his mommy and he will never leave your heart. Blessing and Love
ReplyDeleteRonda
Gingers Foster Mom