I had not opened my email in several days.  When I did, I was inundated with requests to help Kimmi. Kimmi was an older Catahoula Leopard dog that had been dumped in a shelter in northwest Florida.

Making the six-hour round trip, we got Kimmi home. She was in horrible shape. She had multiple tumors and severe anemia due to flea and tick infestation. Taking her immediately to the vet, we found she had osteosarcoma, bone cancer, that had metastasized to her lungs and spleen. She was given about two weeks to live.

I made the decision to treat her as a hospice type case and simply give her all the needed medication, love and comfort I could. It was plain to see very early on, this poor dog had never known human love. She would not even look up at me.

I let everyone in our rescue organization know that Kimmi was safe but I did not think her name fit her. I asked for assistance from everyone to come up with a new name. My dear rescue friend in Montana, Janeen Jackson came up with “Hope” and it was perfect.

Hope surpassed her two-week life expectancy and surprised us all by making it to a month.  At the end of month two, Hope finally looked up at me. I had my first miracle, her trust.  Hope became my constant companion moving ever so slowly to wherever it was that I went.

She has inspired a great many people including myself. In her honor I wrote a song entitled “A Song For Hope”; in addition, she inspired Book V of the series, “Adventures in the Kingdom of Mim: Hope: An Inspiration To All.” Hope is currently our poster “dog” representing Catahoula Rescue, Inc.

One year, five months and eight days later, I smiled through my tears as I laid my dear old friend to rest. Hope has taught me more about the power of love
and life than any human ever could....

More stories like this at www.kingdomofmim.com 



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