Let your LIGHT SHINE People!

Let Your Light SHINE People!
With all the fallout from me helping Doogie, there has been a ton of support, but also a rash of people who are 'against' me sending out hateful e-mails, allegations against me and Dogs Deserve Better, yadda, yadda, yadda.

This has been a great learning experience for me, and I've had to face some of my worst fears because of it. I've learned I will no longer buckle under to ANYONE. I will let my light shine no matter how many people hate that I do...

When I was in 7th grade, one of the most traumatic events of my youth took place on a cool fall day. I realize now that I must have been HAPPY (how dare I!), and feeling good about myself...I wore a dress to school only about 2-3 times a year, and this was one of those days. I was wearing my jean gauchos which were popular then, and my new high-heeled sandals with I think a hot pink top. I felt downright pretty!

Our bus pulled in from the middle school to the elementary school, where we waited for our connecting busses to go home. There was a big crowd of people, and I said to my friend, "looks like there's gonna be a fight".

Little did I know I was the one targeted!

When I got off the bus, someone grabbed my books, and pushed me to the center of the 'ring'. They said, "you're gonna be in a fight". I said "with who?" There stood Elise Klemann (name not changed to NOT protect the uninnocent). She was big, fat and yes, I'll say it, not the prettiest girl in school. But she sure was mean and tough, and hung out with the tough crowd, the druggies, the ones who I now realize had very bad childhoods and had to take it out on the rest of the kids because they were getting it at home.

I had no idea why we were to fight. All I knew was I was in the middle of all these mean kids, and NOT ONE of my friends stood up for me. Even my own brother stayed up on the wall and watched; did nothing to help me. The ring of Elise's supporters would push me and I would stumble and fall into her. She would then grab me by the hair and swing me around. And around...and around. I know I only got ONE good scratch on her, raking my fingernails down her neck and across her chest. This went on for what seemed an interminable amount of time, but was probably in reality only 5-10 minutes.

When my bus came, I told her I'm getting on my bus, and I booked it without looking back. All that night I could pull my hair out in clumps, I had a fat lip, and I was scared to death. I didn't EVER want to go back to school again. I still did not know why I was fighting her that day, although I later found out she said I'd 'called her a slut'. I hadn't.

She put out my light that day.

I was terrified after that to let my light shine, terrified to wear a dress, to feel pretty, terrified to stand out of the crowd for fear of what would happen to me. I didn't want to go to school, I was a big coward and no one I knew would stand up for me. That was a sad realization, that even my own family left me to what felt like a certain demise. My mom switched my bus so I wouldn't get off at the elementary school again, although that didn't work, and I ended up missing the connecting bus. The girls continued to pick on me as they could, and I continued to fear them, avoid them, run from them.

Then one day, my mom and I were in Kmart, and I spotted one of the leaders of the mean crowd. I told my mom, "there's one of those girls", and she asked me where. She calmly went up to her and proceeded to bulldoze her right into a table of blue-light-special clothing! The girl said, 'Hey', and turned around to see my mom just staring at her. She looked from her to me, said, "Oh", walked away, and I never had a speck of trouble with them after that...My mom loves that story, and talks about it to this day, always prefacing it with, "remember when...".

I for one have always hated that story, with the exception of the ending, of course. This story makes me feel less than, scared, cowardly, and ashamed. Ashamed I wasn't stronger, ashamed I let them terrorize me without standing up to them. For many, many years I lived in the shadow of that one middle-school afternoon.

The moment I decided to face my fears and form Dogs Deserve Better to stand against the inhumane treatment of dogs was the moment I decided to let my light shine again. I knew I would have to stand against many, many individuals, and I decided I would face my fears and do so.

The day I rescued Doogie I stood against the ultimate bullies this country holds: authority figures who misuse their position, do not do their jobs, and try to condemn those who stand up for what's right.

But guess what? This light's STILL SHINING! All those who are saying I was wrong, I deserve to go to jail, and I am a 'showboater' are nothing more than the bullies at my school bus stop. These same people probably put on their Sunday finest and spend a couple hours playing churchgoers and lovers of God once a week too.

For the last couple years I've tried to base my big decisions on two pivotal ideals: 1.) any decision that comes from fear is the wrong decision; and, the ever-popular 2.) What Would Jesus Do?

Now, I don't consider myself the most religious woman these days, due to the people I'd meet in most churches (see above), but I do consider myself to be very spiritual, and one of the leaders I most admire in this universe is still Jesus. The purity of love he exemplifies is gold standard, and his disregard for those who considered themselves above him (the Pharisees) sets an enduring example; a life to follow.

So, the question for Doogie's Day had to be, What Would Jesus Do if he were me? I believe if you have two brain cells to rub together, you can readily come up with the answer to this question..Jesus would have walked over, picked Doogie up with thoughts only of the life ebbing away before him, and healed him on the spot. He would also continue to protect him from his abusers. Now, given that I'm NOT Jesus and don't have his unique abilities, I did the next best thing..I got Doogie the vet help he needed, and I protected him from his abusers.

If you don't like that, so be it. You will not put out my light again. Even if you put me in jail for the rest of my life as you've done to some wonderful leaders, I will not allow it to be put out. If you feel you have to kill me or take everything I have, whatever. I will not return to 7th grade shame, and I say to all other animal, human, and environmental advocates out there, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!

If you want to die knowing you made a difference, LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE! And know that if those who are attacking you were doing the same, they would have no time to attack you...and no desire. Tammy

Grimes Finalist in Animal Planet Hero of the Year Contest

Tammy Grimes Nominated for "Changing the Lives of Many Animals and Families" through her Efforts for the Nation's Chained/Penned Dogs

Tipton, PA—Tammy Grimes, founder of Dogs Deserve Better, has been chosen as a Top Ten Finalist in the Animal Planet Hero of the Year Contest. The winning nomination came from Autumn Temple of Altoona, PA, a Dogs Deserve Better supporter and local hero in her own right through her work with the area's families and children.

Autumn's winning nomination states, "Tammy dedicates so many hours to Dogs Deserve Better that this organization is her life. Dogs Deserve Better pays for fencing for those who want to unchain their animals and allow them freedom. Tammy is also a perpetual foster mom to unwanted dogs, until she can find them a home. Tammy’s home should be considered the dogs’ home as she has installed a number of doggy doors, and has fenced the yard. Her home is very much the place for animals.

From July 1 - July 15, Tammy successfully held Dogs Deserve Better’s first annual “Chain Off Contest” to raise awareness for chained dogs. Eleven contestants were chained to doghouses and the one who lasted the longest won a new Chevy Aveo. As a result of the contest, the runner-up of the contest immediately went home and unchained his dog. Dogs Deserves Better is now working with the dog and its guardian to create an animal-friendly environment. Tammy Grimes has inspired so many others that she now has Dogs Deserve Better representatives in 37 states, plus Puerto Rico and Canada. Tammy also involves youth in the advocacy of animals as junior representatives for the organization. Tammy’s efforts have changed the lives of many animals and families."

If Grimes wins, Dogs Deserve Better will receive a $10,000 donation to further it's efforts for chained and penned dogs. To vote, go to http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/hero_of_the_year/poll/poll.html.

Dogs Deserve Better is a 501c3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Tipton, Pennsylvania, is the 2003 First Place Winner of the ASPCA Pet Protector Award, and currently has 150 area reps in 37 states as well as in Canada and Australia.

DDB PSA with Adrian Zmed on You Tube

OK, so I've uploaded the DDB Public Service Announcement starring Adrian Zmed of TJ Hooker and Grease 2 fame to You Tube. Because of that I was able to embed it onto the page on the site, so I'm going to try to embed it here too. Give it a watch, and pass it along to everyone! Please try to get this aired on your local tv stations. Send me over all the relevant info, who to mail it to with contact person, and what kind of tape they take (most take beta or digi-beta) so we need to know what format they use. Send the info to me at tammy@dogsdeservebetter.org, and we'll get them out a tape.

A Typical Day in the Grimes Household

Well, my friend Connie gave a 'typical day' analysis, and I thought it was quite interesting to read, so thought I'd go ahead and post one too.

Many of my days start out differently and end differently these days, due to DDB obligations, booths, etc., but on a general, don't need to leave home day it goes like this (when I have the kids...)

If I'm not lucky and not smart I've had too much caffeine the day before, and I've been up from about 1:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m., such as was the case last night. I would have gotten up to work which I've been known to do when I can't sleep and lay there thinking of everything that needs done, but Rocky was sleeping on his new bed...the couch...and I knew it would wake him up. So I just tossed and turned, petted Tuna (my beloved grey kitty), who alternated between sleeping on my head and beside me, and the new foster dog, Chipper, who was totally sacked out next to me all night.

What a cutie he is, too! He looks like a sheltie/corgi mix. A bit of a funny mix, but he's got the corgi love for chasing balls, and the sheltie ability to calm down when needed. Don't know why anyone would ever chain out such a total sweetheart of a dog!

Chipper quickly got that if he was persistent he could sleep in bed next to mommy. This was only his second night here, and there he was totally sacked out next to me. (He did get a bath yesterday morning, so he smelled fresh at least) Makes me so sad to think of him out on a chain every night, and the first chance he got he snuggled right up to me like he'd been there his whole life. Dogs are so adaptable!

If I'm lucky and I actually get a decent night's sleep, I wake up when Rayne gets up to shower at 6:30. I'm a really light sleeper, the mommy in me...and then he comes in for a few minutes before he gets on the bus at 7:20 and hangs out with me, gives me hugs, we'll talk a bit. This usually wakes up the sleeping monster, Brynnan, beside me, where she's snuggled up to my left side. She will typically start complaining right away because there's some dog or other sleeping on her blanket, and she's cold, etc. And so the Brynnan day begins. But on a good Brynnan day, there is morning snuggles and love, and kisses, and a lot of "I love yous"...those days are the best!

After Rayne leaves Brynnan and I will often hang out in bed for awhile, hopefully talking and laughing, unless she needs to shower or bath. We have an hour until her bus comes, so we get dressed, I make her breakfast, pancakes are her favorite. I pack her a snack and then we get her to the bus. We'll often take a dog down the lane to the bus stop with us, I like to take different ones all the time so the kids wonder how many dogs we have, haha.

After she goes, I vacuum (Rocky's been doing this a lot lately as 'rent'), feed the cats and dogs, throw a load of laundry in, hopefully do at least the Great Buns Guaranteed dvd, shower, and sit down to work. DDB e-mails frequently take at least an hour to go through, even if I've just been on the day before...and if I've taken the weekend off or something, ugh! Then I figure out which fires need put out for the day...freelance work, ddb work, what deadlines I have, etc. This makes every day unique, because there is always something different that needs to be done...

As for the latest on Rocky, he's a nice man...and I think if him needing to foot his share of the bills were not an issue, we'd still be together. But that is a big issue in life, and so we need to go our separate ways.

Speaking of which...if anyone rich ever needs to find a good outlet for their money (besides DDB, of course!) send someone over to clean my house...make my dream come true. haha. A small dream, really, huh?

Cats living in a dumpster in Hagerstown, MD

Well, we were on our way home last night from the Taking Action for Animals conference in D.C. It was quite costly to stay there, plus $22 a day for parking! But the conference went pretty well, we did a booth there and I got to show some of my artwork, too. Dawn from FARM bought two small pieces of art, cool!

The food, I must say, left a lot to be desired. I think that will be fixed for next year, because I imagine EVERYONE was complaining about it! The girl next to me, Quinn, at the Pangea booth made money hand over fist because there was virtuallly no other food to be had most of the time. I heard one girl ask her if she took credit cards. Quinn said, yes, we do, and the girl said, "Thank God, because this is the worst vegan food I've had in the ten years since I became a vegan!" And I think she was right. I of course, managed to find something to eat most of the time.

I have a lot of soy issues...and I think many vegetarians/vegans do, but they refuse to put two and two together. So far only Cheryl Hill and I, that I know of, realize that it's soy causing so many of the problems. Many vegetarians have bad thyroid conditions, and it's my belief based on research and the way I feel when eating it and when not eating it, that it's from the soy. At one point in time, I was drinking these 'fabulous soy shakes', touted of course for their health-giving abilities. Meanwhile, I felt worse and worse and my thyroid went from bad to worse. When I stopped eating and drinking soy for the most part, my thyroid level went from 11.64 back down to 6.75 at last check. Normal is 5.5 and below...so I'm not quite normal, but refuse to take meds, so there you have it.

Sunday I ate a lot of soy because that's pretty much all that was offered...and in the middle of the night that night I was awake much of the time because I felt so awful...Monday I barely had any, and by today I felt much better.

I did dump dairy two weeks ago, yay! Mostly as a result of Marilu Henners program, in which she calls it Bovine Slime, I finally feel able to dump it for good. I noticed also at the conference many of the people who were chubby, when I heard them say it, were actually vegetarians and not vegans. To me this attributes a lot of the problems with overweight to dairy and the junk food one is able to eat if eating dairy...milk chocolate, cakes, cookies, etc., etc., etc...so overall I think I will be much healthier, and hopefully slimmer and more svelte too! Most of the vegans I saw there looked very good. Vegans are the most thin people you will find in America as a group, I can bet on that.

Anyway, so we're on our way home and we stop in Hagerstown for gas. There were cats living outside a dumpster at the gas station, and we tried for 1/2 hour to catch these kittens and a pregnant female, but we were not able to catch them. I'm currently looking for rescue help for these poor things...the female is VERY pregnant and is a tortie. The kittens are from 3-4 months old, five of them, 3 black ones and 2 striped grey ones. There was also a male maine coon and another black and white cat. I'm about two hours from there, so have sent this around looking for help for them!

Meanwhile, we're out there with lunchmeat trying to catch them...and this young 'gentleman' comes out from the store to the dumpster. I told him that the female was very pregnant, and did they have an spca around there. He said yes, but it wasn't his problem. Of course, that led to an argument, and he said he hated cats...all the more reason for someone local to there to step up and help these poor things before it's too late!

America needs to get more active in helping...when you see a problem, don't just think it's someone else's problem...Get in there and help yourself or find someone who can! Animals, the young, and the old especially need us to take care of them. And I'm pretty sure you get some good kudos in heaven too once you get there, added incentive...