Hero was having a perfect day, flying through the heavens with the other angel dogs. Perfect, that is, until he asked the Shelter Angel, who watches over all the animals that are up for adotpion, if he could go back to earth and become a shelter dog. After all, he thought, what could be better than having a very special person choose you - out of all the other dogs - to come home and live with them? As Hero is about to discover, things don't always turn out the way you plan. Sometimes they turn out better!
When I was a child I had two great passions in my life - spending my days with our animals and spending my nights gazing at the starry skies, pondering the distant heavens. My mother was certain I would either become a veterinarian or an astronomer. But life has a funny way of taking us down unexpected roads, and I wound up following a business path that satisfied the left side of my brain but kept the right side quiet, longing for expression. I just couldn't stop thinking about those stars!
So I left the corporate workplace in 1996 to pursue my true heart's calling...my soul work. I was looking for a way to celebrate the creatures with whom we share this planet, and to thank them for the many gifts they had brought to me. I thought my beloved dog, Martha, would be by my side on this magical journey. I had no idea this mysterious creature, who had been born into my arms 13 years earlier, would become ill and I would have to continue on without her. As I grieved the loss of my dearest friend, I couldn't understand this was all part of a much larger plan.
I never would have believed I'd meet Jake, the magnificent dog who walked by my side when I began my journey as a writer/illustrator. I never, EVER, would have known I'd be blessed to have Dickens, Pippen, Molly & Star - a litter of 4 magical kittens - enter my life. So many miracles...all on four paws!
I didn't know I'd give birth to five books - Forever Paws, For Every Dog An Angel, For Every Cat An Angel, Old Dog & the Christmas Wish, and The Shelter Dog... books that celebrate our timeless connection with animals... books overflowing with paintings of starry skies.
I've learned much from my passions. The animals have taught me about letting go, for they so often leave long before we are ready to say goodbye. The heavens have inspired me to never give up on my dreams, for on those days when the dream seems a little far away I remember it is only resting up in the stars, waiting for me to call it back home.
Chris Davis lives in Portland, Oregon with her kitties Molly and Star.
