My Inspiration

Mr. Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and any honored guests, tonight I am going to talk about my inspiration. Babies come in different sizes, shapes, colors, and different personalities. My baby loves: • To play on the deck in the summer months loves the summer heat.

• Loves to look outside through the front living room window, we even have a special chair for her to look out onto the bay where we live.

• She hates her baths

• Loves her snacks

• If we let her she would sleep in our bed all the time, she loves being beside us.

• When we say where’s daddy she runs to the door and will sit and wait for him to open the door and is so excited to see my husband.

• She loves to cuddle on the couch when we are watching t.v.

• In the mornings, my husband will say, “Where’s mommy” she jumps onto my bed and cuddles until I get out of bed. When I go to the bathroom she follows me and sits and watches me get ready for my day.

• We love to pick her up and hold and she loves that. • However, the sound of the doorbell drives her crazy.

• She loves getting her teeth brushed.

• She hates loud noises or if people yell. Even if you are yelling at the TV screen during a sports event. She is sensitive. My baby is a four legged, 7 Ibs, shiatsu- Maltese fur baby named Chloe. She is my inspiration. This is Chloe, this may just look like a picture to you but it is a Legacy portrait.

• This portrait will be a reminder for my family of the dog we once had.

• I look at this and I remember the joy she brings to our lives, the way she makes us laugh when she does laps around the house.

• This portrait will remind us that we used to refer as through she was our second born. We apologize when we leave the house, we say. “Oh, puppy, I am so sorry.” And feel guilty for leaving her behind because she watches through the front window as we drive away.

• When I look at this portrait, I am reminded, how we hold her like a baby, rub her belly she will either snort in your face or yawns.

• When I look at this portrait: it reminds me how she loves her walks and we don’t dare say the word in our house unless you are taking her for a walk. We Spell, WALK.

• When I look at this portrait- it reminds me that when, we say, “stay” and she will stop and roll on her back because she wants a belly rub.

• When I look at this portrait: it reminds of how she loves her teeth brushed, she will come find us, look as us as though she wants something and if we say, “Do you want your teeth brushed, and she wags her tail in excitement. Yes my dog enjoys the flavor of her tooth paste and knows the routine of her bedtime. When I look into these very eyes, I am reminded on how we got her. . Well it wasn’t easy, my husband never wanted a dog, he would say, “They are a lot of work and responsibility and we are not getting a dog!!!” I worked on my husband to get one for years, and when our daughter came a long she wanted a dog as well. This is how it happened. Two years ago my cousin was fostering Chloe, our dog, and as I followed my cousin on social media I kept seeing this dog on her feed and her commenting that Chloe was back. My cousin finally just adopted her because she kept on bouncing from home to home and that wasn’t good for her, she would end up with so much anxiety. My cousin adopted her in hopes she would be adopted by someone she knew. In December of 2015, I smuggled Chloe into our home, my cousin said we could trial her for a week and see how it goes. I brought into our home without my husband consent. When he come home from work he said, who’s dog, I said ours if we want her. We knew the dog had to back over the Christmas holidays because we were heading to on Vacation for a week of over the Christmas season. We didn’t talk about it over the holidays; we never talked about at all actually. I wanted it to be up to him to make that decision and not push the issue. I look at this portrait and it reminds me of this card, I can’t even read it makes me get teary eyed. Legacy portraits are so important: you may not have your loved ones with you at all times, but you will be reminded of them, you will be reminded of how much they meant to you and one day you will realize you are lost without them. Chloe is my inspiration: she has just recently allowed me to decide- that my mission is to share will others the importance of portraits of their pets, to create legacy images and to create memorable artwork for pet owners.

• I want you to feel to feel for your loved pet what I feel when I look at Chloe here when I look into her eyes. That is why I do this, it is not take pretty images, it is to create everlasting pet portraits and keep your memories alive of them. Pets are just like family; their lives with us are so short we all need timeless images of them. Babies- come in different sizes, shapes, colors, with different personalities, but mine comes with four legs and fur and because of my portraits she will come with a life time of memories!!!