When Phil & I met I was a single parent of 2 basset hounds & a wiener dog. He was parent to a Golden, an Irish Setter, & 3 Scottish Fold cats.

My Mom told me it would never work.

It has worked & continued for 30 years. With no children & no possibility of grandchildren we continue to prosper with our dogs, cats and now a pet pig.

Together we have suffered the losses of almost 20 pets and recently found ourselves without a Golden for the first time.

It was virtually impossible to find a Golden to adopt.

Phil was about to undergo a heart valve replacement & I knew how much he wanted & needed the companionship of nothing but a Golden.

How can we ever thank E Marie & the forming of the Soul Legacy for their generosity in allowing us & many others the opportunity to give a forever home to deserving Goldens, many from unimaginable living conditions?

We received word that a 5 year old Golden named Nellie would be arriving soon from Istanbul & would be ours to love.

This news arrived on the eve of Phil's surgery.

Many of our previous pets have become Therapy Dogs for Hospice of the Valley & participants in reading programs for underprivileged & learning impaired children & in Library reading programs.

We hope Nellie can do these things too when the pandemic is over.

The day of Nellie's arrival was one of the best days of our lives. She was not feeling too good, she was full of fleas, & was dirty.

But soon she was the sweetest dog we had ever met. She is extremely smart & attentive.

We tried telling her "sit" but she did not sit. Then Phil looked up the Turkish word for sit, Otur, & then she sat.

We always tell her that when feeding her & she always sits for her food.

Our last golden was named Star. Nellie resembles her so we changed her name to Star 2.

She has bonded with our 2 small dogs, Rufus & Maggie, & our cat, Whiskers.

Our pet pig, Beau, however, is another challenge. Beau loves Goldens & just wants her for a friend, but she has never been around pigs apparently, so she is not as interested in having a pig friend. Star has developed into a wonderful companion, appreciative of everything. she is
happy & content & so are we.

Bob S. & Bob W. & everyone connected with RAG deserve so much credit for all they do for the dogs & for all of us. without all their efforts these animals & the new parents would never find these matches made in Heaven.