America Deserves A Raise

PJ is a person that everyone falls in love with.  I did. Not with what I could see, but with what I couldn’t see. She’s certainly a beautiful woman but her outward beauty is eclipsed by the love and care for others that fill her heart. It didn’t take very long after meeting PJ to see how much care she has for those who are lost, sick, injured and orphaned; those who have no hope in life except in the arms of someone who loves unconditionally.

PJ works by day, and often by night, for a global information technology company; spending hours helping others put out fires before they become an intensely burning conflagration. Those hours often touch the morning’s first rays of light, a time when normal people are still enjoying a restful night’s sleep.

Sleep is often sacrificed, for in PJ’s off hours she cares for those little creatures that have no one else. PJ is also a wildlife rehabilitator; caring for the orphaned, the sick and the injured species of wildlife that most of us just forget.

She can often be found surrounded by babies with big staring eyes and outstretched paws. I watch her nursing little squirrels and every other wee critter that comes her way with little syringes, lovingly caring for them as they pass through a difficult period in their lives. 

Critters come to her for all sorts of reasons. Babies are often orphaned due to mothers being killed, falls, attacks by domestics or disease. Sometimes it isn’t babies at all, but adult wildlife that find themselves injured or sick. It doesn’t matter to PJ; her heart and arms are warm enough for all of them. PJ doesn’t discriminate. 

Sometimes the type of care needed is beyond the experience and scope of what PJ can do. When that happens, PJ reaches into her purse and without a second thought or complaint provides the veterinary care required. Most of the time PJ goes without, but the critters don’t and that’s ok with PJ. Even when she was diagnosed with cancer, PJ continued to care for those who needed her. 

The care that’s required by all her charges runs into the thousands every year. Enclosures, food and medical care are needed for everyone and where does PJ get that kind of financial support?  From herself. PJ provides everything out of her own pocket. Nearly every dime brought into the household is immediately used for the care of her little visitors.
And they are all just that; visitors. When the time comes and wounds have healed or they’ve reached the age when release is possible, off they go into the trees and fields they came from. Some cannot. Sometimes long-term care is needed; this can span many months. PJ believes with all her heart that every animal that comes into her arms deserves life, no matter what the consequences.

So why do I nominate PJ for a raise?  Because they would.