Yet another birthday, yet another Christmas. They've stolen this time from us.

Most of us can remember a time when a birthday - especially if it was one's own - brightened the world as if a second sun has risen.

It was their birthday gift to me. It was a wonderful time for the three of us to be together.

He was supposed to be coming home to celebrate Christmas and his son's birthday. Instead, he's coming home to this.

Things happen in very mysterious ways. Christmas is a hectic time for us. We had just gotten a break when we could all sit down and then the phone rang. It was Manatee County Animal Services telling us they had confiscated 24 poodles and asking if we could help.

In order to survive I must turn my heart into diamond...one of the most beautiful substances on earth, yet also the hardest.