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Saturday, Oct. 03, 2009

A way to give back: Pet program helps military family

A way to give back

Barbara Lawrence, 53, a doctor of internal medicine and an animal lover, lives on 3 acres near Aledo, Texas.

Since the Gulf War, she has been supporting America's troops by writing them letters and sending care packages.

One day last year, she said, she was browsing a Web site and saw a link to Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pet.

That March, she applied to become a foster pet parent, specifying that she was willing to take a large dog.

"After the initial excitement of the invasion wore off and people turned back to their own lives, it didn't change the fact that people were making huge sacrifices and giving up things, such as their pets, to fulfill their obligations," Lawrence explained. "I saw it not only as something I could give to a service person but to the family at home."

Seven months later, Lawrence received a call from Guardian Angels asking whether she would be willing to foster two big dogs.

"At that time, they had these clients -- the Jordans -- with two adult German shepherds and they were trying to place them," she said. "The Jordans had tried hard to find a place for them and hadn't had any luck and were resigned to giving up their pets."

A short time later, Lawrence and Thomasa Jordan spoke by phone. Lawrence said she was eager to take Logan and Dixie but was concerned how they would get along with her new puppy, Dolly.

Jordan offered to make the 2 hour drive from Killeen to Aledo to see how the dogs interacted.

"She was nine months pregnant and ready to deliver at any time," Lawrence said. "I had visions of her going into labor on I-35, so I drove to Fort Hood and met her and brought Dolly."

The dogs got along fine.

Later that day, Lawrence started back to Aledo -- with Dolly, Logan and Dixie.

"I was so excited," Jordan said. "My husband called and I got to tell him that I had found someone to take both dogs together and that he was going to be able to see them again. He said it was a godsend."

Five days later, Jordan gave birth to their second daughter.

Staying in touch

Shortly after she was released from the hospital, Jordan and her daughters, Savannah and Shyanne, went back to Jordan's hometown of Hampton Roads, Va.

They moved in with her brother and his family, who helped care for her and the girls.

Lawrence, meanwhile, routinely e-mailed Jordan pictures of Dixie and Logan, which she forwarded to her husband in Iraq.

Lawrence said the arrangement wasn't without challenges. Dixie wasn't well socialized, and both dogs chased her neighbor's horses, so they had to be moved, she said.

But the rewards were great. Lawrence said it filled her heart to see the German shepherds running across the field, playing together. Logan loved the water, and both dogs were affectionate and got along well with Dolly.

Best of all, Lawrence said, she felt good knowing she was able to help a young military mother.

"It was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to handle a 5-year-old, a newborn and two large dogs," Lawrence said. "I think it is just as important to help the family at home as to support those who are abroad."

Husband comes home

At the end of July, after a 14-month deployment, Army Sgt. Adam Jordan, 28, returned home safely.

Lawrence, realizing he needed some down time, offered to keep Dixie and Logan a bit longer so that Adam Jordan could get to know his new daughter and the family could take a vacation together.

"I said, 'Take your time,'" she recalled.

On Sept. 12, the Jordans, ready to make their family whole again, drove to Aledo to pick up Logan and Dixie.

It was a heartwarming reunion. "They were extremely happy to see us," Thomasa Jordan said. "It was like no time had passed."

Lawrence said the dogs, especially Dixie, stayed close to Adam Jordan.

"It was obvious that Dixie had a strong bond with Adam," Lawrence said. "She was a different dog. She strikes me as the type of dog who bonds only with one person. She was ecstatic to see him and would not leave his side."

Even though she had bonded with the dogs for 11 months, Lawrence said she felt joy, not sadness, when they left.

"It wasn't hard to let them go, because I could see how happy their family was to have them back," said Lawrence, who is now retired.

Adam Jordan said he is grateful to Guardian Angels for Soldier's Pet -- and especially to Lawrence.

"Those are our babies," he said. "We don't love them as much as our kids, but they are definitely part of the family. They mean a lot to us. ... I'm very happy we are all back together again."

He said Lawrence insisted on paying for the dogs' food and vet bills while he was in Iraq. When he met her, he told her he wanted to repay her.

She wouldn't hear of it.

"She said I had done enough," Adam Jordan said.