A quick comment on how I use the word "blessed" -- asked by someone via email --

I mean "blessed" in a way that I am thankful that we are able to help these loving creatures in such an positive way -- by prolonging and enriching their lives, which makes the lives of their human companions more full, giving and complete.

I don't mean "blessed" from any one religious viewpoint; I mean it instead from an angle that I am certain there is a creator out there somewhere, and while I don't know a lot about how the world works, or why I am even here, I am positive that this creator is thankful every time one of its creations is helped to live the life the creator intended -- that's all.

And too, that often I feel "blessed" by the way our luck works in being able to help these dogs -- whether by the great, generous people we meet, or by the occasional glance or look I catch from one of the dogs, looking at me, often at the oddest of moments, which simply says, "thank you" --

-- for that, we're blessed.