The day after Memorial Day in 2002, I lost one of the closest friends I’ve ever had. Her name was Sheba. My eyes still well up with tears just typing these words nearly two years later. I will never stop loving her and I will never stop missing her. I write all the time about just about everything, but I’ve never been able to write about her. I lost a piece of myself that day and it isn’t something that can be replaced and I suppose I don’t really want it to be anyway.

I already had three cats and a dog when I came across this beautiful creature and I really didn’t think that I could help her. I was at home on summer break from college when I met her. I was managing a store in a mall that summer and each day I would walk to the bank at the other end of the mall to make the previous day's deposit. There was a pet store across from the bank, and being the animal lover that I am, I would sometimes stop and visit the animals, wishing that they weren’t stuck there. One day while passing through, I looked into a pair of soft brown eyes that seemed to look back into mine and quietly say, "save me". Those eyes haunted me and I thought of them often. All of my animals had come from shelters and I don’t believe in pet stores or puppy mills. That was MY stuff. This wasn’t her fault. I visited her often, hoping that she would wind up in a good home.

One day I stopped by to visit and asked them to get her out of her cage so that I could visit with her. I immediately noticed that her hind legs were not functioning properly due to the fact that she had been cooped up in that cage, which was too small for her for too long. It broke my heart to see her having to start her life that way.

Since I was going back to school before long and couldn’t take her with me, I felt stuck. By now, I had shown her to my Mom on a number of occasions and she had fallen for her as well. I wound up rescuing her from that sad situation and she eventually rescued me in return.

After having Sheba for just over a year, I was in a horrible car accident, placing me into a cage of sorts. I couldn’t move around much or do any of the things that I longed to do. Sheba was by my side constantly during that time. She would sit beside me searching with those soft brown eyes, listening to me as if she understood every word while watching the tears flow. I told her things I’ve never told anyone else and she always seemed to understand. One day while volunteering at PAWS, I’ll lock eyes with another such soul. Lucky me!

Katie