We’ve all heard the saying “Shame on you, shame on me” meaning that the person saying this phrase believes that you should be ashamed of yourself for something you have done wrong. However, I’m going to say “Shame on me, shame on we” instead, because it really starts with me. I am the only one who can change me, just like you are the only one who can change you.

Most everyone that knows me knows that I am an animal lover and animal activist in our area. In fact, while going through old paperwork in my childhood home that was severely damaged during recent storms, I found typed out letters to my parents and family begging them to “PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let me keep all the kittens because I love them very very very very very much.”

I wrote this over and over again, like six times, working hard to get their approval to keep them all. (I smile now because I can remember at one time having two mama cats with separate litters of kittens – a total of 16 in all. Very close to my total today of 17 – from personally owned to fixed feral cats that I feed every day. So at some point, I must have won my case.)

Anyways, I’m sure I had been begging my family verbally for a while before I had resorted to putting my request in writing to achieve my goal at such a tender age. The letters made me laugh but I also realized that from a very young child I had always been extremely sensitive to loving, caring and helping others and animals.

In a second old letter I found, I had told my mother “I see YOU and I see how hard you work every day for our family.” By the writings you could tell I was very young (maybe five or six years old) but I was also very aware. As I sat reading through little handmade card after card to all my immediate family members, I was grateful that I had eyes that saw God’s creation and I was more thankful that I had a heart that cared what happened to it.

Now, let’s fast forward 50 years. I’m still rescuing animals. I’m even part of a small, local rescue volunteer group trying to help abandoned and abused animals in our local area. Which is why when I stopped at Braum’s to grab an ice cream and visit with my mother for a minute, the first thing I noticed was a little, fuzzy dog pacing outside the front doors. She had been given a cup of water and there were French fries beside the cup, so I knew she had been there for a little while. Then I observed a young man with a little backpack step outside and pet her and then he went back inside to the restroom. The little dog then followed him inside, but an employee quickly walked the pup back outside where it waited patiently as one by one people passed it by.

I had gotten my single dip cone by this time and was sitting and watching the pup and the people passing it up when the young man asked management if they had an application. The manager was quick to say their positions were filled up but he could fill out their online application and turn it in. Sadly I watched as the young man walked out, with the pup following.

I knew the pup wasn’t his, but he was the only one I saw who had given it attention so it followed. As I got into my vehicle I drove down the road and looked to see where he might have been walking but he had disappeared.

I sent the picture of the stray pup to my partner with Paws N Claws and she posted it, asking if anyone had seen the pup or the young man and she started getting comments.

This is where the SHAME ON ME, SHAME ON WE comes in. After I got home, my friend called me and said that she had to take down the post because more people were concerned with the guy taking the dog than they were with the guy himself possibly needing help. She then proceeded to tell me that she might be able to find this young man a job if she could figure out who he was. We both reached out on social media and found out the guy had gotten a ride and they found the dog a home too. I told my friend I felt terrible because I was so wrapped up in the pup that I didn’t even see the person.

After I hung up from her call, I literally cried because I had seen that the animal had food and water but why hadn’t I asked the young man if he needed anything? Why was I like so many others, only concerned with the canine? I literally cried and cried until I almost threw up. SHAME ON ME! When did I lose my ability to SEE OTHERS? Why had I become so callused that I only cared about the animals?

I know that the world is not a kind place anymore. Even when you are desperately trying to do something good for your area, people bitch and complain and expect you to fix their problems when you are struggling to fix your own. Many times you feel overwhelmed by the desperation that many people and pets are dealing with on a daily basis. You wish you were rich, not so you could fly off to beautiful destinations, but so you could help more rescues, shelters, pounds and people. So, you pray that God removes the calluses off your heart and you work harder to have more calluses on your hands. Because SHAME ON ME if I fail to see ALL of His creation and shame on us all if we only want to complain on social media but never step up to make a difference.

Again I beg you DON’T JUST MAKE A STATEMENT, MAKE A DIFFERENCE! That means quit bitchin’ about the politics and blaming the problems on everyone else but ourselves. It’s time to roll up your sleeves and make a difference in these peoples and animals lives! Let’s change the SHAME ON ME, SHAME ON WE to IT’S NOT ABOUT ME, IT’S ABOUT WE!

WE, THE PEOPLE! I know I can’t change you, but I sure as heck can change me. So that’s what I’m going to focus on and make a difference! I pray you do the same.