On August 13, 2004, Hurricane Charley made landfall in Charlotte County, Florida, and our home was directly in its path. Our oldest son had made his desire to have a dog known on a regular basis. My husband and I briefly considered his request, but we knew that this was not a good time to introduce a pet into our lives.

By October 2004, we were finally able to move back into our home. As we were heading out to church one day, we noticed a dog curled up under a tree in our front yard. My son yelled out, "Look, there's my puppy!"

It was clear that she had been dumped on the highway and left to fend for herself for several weeks. She was thin but not injured. We tried to find her owners, but with the damage from the hurricane, there were thousands of animals roaming the streets as families had simply left town as they could not afford to rebuild their homes. We let her decide if she wanted to stay or go. After three weeks of her lying at our front door, we decided to make it official. She had a very royal presence about her, so I called out the name "Sheba," and she responded as though it was her name from birth.

We recently celebrated Sheba's fourth birthday right next to her best friends, my two boys who love this dog with all their hearts. We truly believe the best pets are the ones that find you!