The whole ‘it takes a village’ concept, it’s applicable to Jake. While I may take care of him, and clean up after him, and buy him bionic eyes, there are just some solutions that I need help with.

You might wonder why all our giveaways include Sirius Republic.  It’s because Jen (the heart and soul of Sirius Republic) is one of the best people I have ever known.  And I know a lot of wonderful people, so Jen is pretty spectacular. Supporting a company that is owned by an AWESOME person, yes please!  During the late nights before I lost Melvin, when Melvin’s Project Joy came to life, Jen was the very first person I reached out to.  Without her, the Joy would not be as lovely and powerful as it has been.  I’m forever grateful.

Jen is the person who when you are at the beach on vacation with her and your monkey named Jake smells like a pee factory, she says ‘lets give him a bath’ (said with a lot of enthusiasm that you do not share!).  And she gets in the tub with said stinky monkey, even when you warn her that HE WILL PEE and when he does pee ON HER she says ‘awwww, he loves me!’.  Good people.

One of the biggest, life changing things has been Jake’s belly bands.  Without those bands… well I can’t really think where we would be without those diapers.  Jake’s body is so odd that custom was really the only way to go.  When Jen reached out last year and said she was making him diapers to help out, I cried.  I cried because I was at my wit’s end and she is an angel who swooped in to save us.  And over the past year, she has worked with Jake’s changing situations to perfect the belly band (we recently got a new batch that allow for more room now that we are doing cloth inserts instead of pads).  Rumor has it belly bands for boys might be something she adds to the Sirius Republic mix one day (Girl diapers are much more difficult to do, sorry ladies!)!!! But boys, rejoice!!!!

Recently someone reached out to me, asking about the belly bands.  This person said they had a dog in their rescue who had Spina Bifida and they were in need a diaper solution similar to Jake’s, but more elaborate due to the structure of the sweet boy’s hip and spine issues. Finding a solution for Bart the Pit Bull (on Instagram @Bart83014) could make the difference in him being adopted.  I reached out to Jen “do you think you can help”?  I knew the answer already, she got to work on the item and design.  And she donated her time and talent  and materials to help this sweet boy out. Best of the best of all the people.

Today’s lesson:  surround yourself with awesome, loving, giving friends.  Together, you can start to change the world!!!