“It allows me to connect in a way that I am not able to with my family.”
My whole childhood was spent moving all over the world, my dad worked for Chevron. And it encouraged me to be able to make friends quickly but I could never keep friends. By the time I finally got to California everything I said and did was wrong and I had a lot of bullies, bad bullies, even hitting my dog with rocks.
I know what it’s like to feel rejection and I see it in the dogs that I rescue and I want to give them the love and cherish them the way they haven’t been cherished before. Even though you were forgotten and are in the back of the class you’re still lovable and you’re still beautiful. It doesn’t matter who you are or what species you are, you’re still worthy of all the love in the world. I started a dog rescue to give the love to the animals that otherwise don’t have it.
I collect Build-A-Bears. I have one, Cherry Blossom bear, the American version. She is my absolute pride and joy. Her name is Mika. She is very light pink color. She has a cherry blossom on her nose and on her foot. She is s very pretty bear and I’m attracted to her.
I can put her in anything and she can wear anything from the Build-A-Bear collection, which I love in particular. I like to change her clothing around. If I go on vacation I bring her with me. She makes me comfortable. She inspires me to dress up a little bit more fun, to bring in a little bit more color my life. I used to wear all black. I also like the fact that the Build-A-Bear clothing happens to fit a lot of dogs.