2004-05-02 @ 11:51 p.m.

my heart is full tonight. for the first time since march twelfth.

i spent most of today helping to transport a sweet dog named dave from a high kill shelter where they inhumanely gas their animals to a rescue league. we spent two hours together. and i was only one of fifteen legs that got this guy to safety. but i fell in love in two hours. and we stopped halfway to go for a run and drink some water. and around 8pm we pulled off the northway to meet up with the woman he would be staying with until she found him a good home.

when dave and i got out of the car and his leash was handed to the husband standing next to us. the woman hugged me and told me that i helped save a life.

she could never possibly know how much those words meant to me.

i said goodbye reluctantly, giving him many rubs and kisses, and wished him all of the luck in the world. and we drove away. and i cried on the way home. the two hour drive home. i cried for dave. because he spent the whole weekend on the highway. travelling from georgia to way upstate new york. and soon he will find a forever home where he can be blissfully happy. and ive never met anyone more deserving. i cried because he was smiling the whole ride. like he knew we were saving him. and that dog in the photo? doesnt even look like the same dog i met today, even though that was him just a week or so ago. i cried for all the other animals who are being needlessly killed every day. i cried because dave was one of the lucky ones.

and i cried because. you know. as cliche as it is. i could feel my mother smiling down on me.