The beginning of April led my family down a path we never thought we'd walk, our house had caught fire with three of our beloved pets inside. The dogs had run out of the house alongside us, however the cats had hidden themselves in fear. My mom and I sat on a neighbor's driveway crying about having to abandon our animals for fear of our own lives when a fireman brought us a soaked kitty. This gal is now known across the Gwinnett area as Lucy Lu, and she is one resilient cat. At the advice of the fireman I rushed her to the nearest 24 hour pet emergency clinic, Blue Pearl, where we were immediately seen and Lucy was rushed into an oxygen cage.
But this was where our luck having found her seemed to fade when the vet brought out the bill. I broke down in the waiting room while my friend and brother tried calling everyone we could think of to try and scrounge up the money to cover the bills. It wasn't until after we had signed the papers, promising to figure out how to pay anyway we could, when Deborah Marshall of Frankie's Friends contacted me. She explained that during this horrible time when my family had lost nearly everything, there was one expense we wouldn't have to stress over. Frankie's Friends donated over $5,000 to help cover Lucy and other animals friends' vet bills in similar situations. My poor little animal who had been through trauma even I couldn't imagine, was going to be okay without breaking my own bank. And while my family is still walking the path we never assumed could happen to us, at least we know we're not walking alone.