Six years ago, while teaching 5th grade at a little country school to the west of here, my life was quite different. VST was quite healthy and alive. I was teaching 27 kids about reading, math, and writing in cursive. Elementary school was still a normal and fun environment in which to teach. It was our third year of life in Virginia City, Nevada and the year I “met” Carlene White.
I intend to meet her in person one day. Just take my rental car and drive right on over to Ipswich to a place she’s named Crazy Acres. I may decide to stay awhile and volunteer there. With over 50 Great Danes, chickens, guinea hens, cows, goats, and donkeys, she’s always got jobs for those that decide to drop in.
Carlene is a study in “Doing Good” when you don’t know what else to do. When she was in her early 70’s, she decided to raise Great Danes as service dogs for people with mobility issues. Not just any Great Danes. Not embarrassingly thin and scrawny Great Danes. Much of her breeding stock is from Europe. She breeds sound and stable Great Danes that, when done with her training, will do anything asked of them. Anything.
You can meet her for yourself. Her non-profit is “Service Dog Project”(Servicedogproject.org). You can also watch her farm through a live feed at Explore.org. At this time, a brand new litter of 12 is thriving under the minute to minute care of volunteers.
Carlene isn’t well these days. She’s had to slow down and hand the reins over to another and is battling through the final days of her life. Don’t feel to bad, because this woman is assessing her skills and abilities to best utilize her talents. Along with a daily blog, she has decided it will be her job to bring happiness to 100 people a week.
Now, you might ask just how someone makes 100 people a day happy???? Carlene came up with a brilliant idea.
At Crazy Acres, her Service Dog Pups (150 pound pups) need exposure to the outside world. They need road trips where they can meet and greet lots of new people. People that look scary riding on wheels and walking with sticks. People that haven’t smiled in a very long time. Old, wrinkly people that sometimes smell a little funny. People that need assistance with living.
Carlene could choose to sit right down and die tomorrow. She could stay in her robe all day while sitting by the window to cry. On her blog, she could host a pity party for herself and anyone that wants to join her. But, no. Not Carlene.
She get up every morning, (and some days that’s a struggle at 85), gets her driver and her three best friends (who happen to be Great Danes) and the puppy (Pasta is his name), and off they go. Carlene is visiting as many assisted living centers in her area as she can each week. They wait for her to get there. She and her crew bring life, laughs, and hundreds of pounds of dogs complete with kisses. The best kind of medicine there is.
Having read and watched Carlene for so many years now, it still amazes me that she runs the place on chicken poop. Each month, she sells “chicken bricks”. For $10, you can buy a square with a number. One Sunday a month, her chickens are televised as they are tenderly placed on a huge checker board with 2,000 numbers. The first numbered square that gets dirtied wins bragging rights for the month. Carlene funds her ranch with the $20,000 a month this raises. She’s never had a month in which she didn’t sell out the bricks.
Through Carlene, I’ve learned so much about the feeding and training of dogs. Her dogs eat kibble donated by Purina and delivered by semi-trucks every so often.
Her dogs are also famous. You can look it up for yourself. The most famous pair is Bella and George.
Bella is a young woman now, but she was a girl who was losing the ability to walk when she found Crazy Acres and Carlene. Bella volunteered. (Bella, who was losing her ability to walk. VOLUNTEERED. At the Ranch.) She really wanted a dog and Carlene agreed that she would benefit from one. But, there was a little problem.
In Carlene’s program, the dog chooses the person it will help. No dog would choose Bella. No dog even liked Bella. They would avoid her. Day after day. No dog for Bella. Until one day, George looked around and decided if no one else would do it, he would. Bella has been walking ever since with the help of George. (Bella and George — Facebook).
Then, there was Scott Aubin, an Air Force Veteran, who showed up at Carlene’s after a failed suicide attempt. Carlene fixed him up with his service dog. Read his book, Knot Today. If you’re interested, there are plenty of You-Tube videos about his story.
Carlene continues to work in the golden hours of her life. She doesn’t waste a lot of time feeling sorry for herself. She just gets up and does good in the world. We would all benefit from doing a little of that ourselves. If we could all make five people smile today, the world would truly be brighter.
Whatever today brings, remember to be Smiler #1. Say “Hello” to someone that needs a friendly word. Call a “shut-in”. Be kind to the tired Walmart associate. Listen to an elder’s stories. Be in the moment. The world needs some happiness today.
For Today,
Forget about your sorrow,
There’ll be time for that tomorrow.
Walking through a widow’s mile,
Find and share your beautiful smile.
Just do it.
More tomorrow.