Below is an example of some of my recent work. It is an article that tells the story of a man spending his final years adopting sick and elderly animals.
“The cages at the animal shelters in McLean and Logan county have always had countless animals coming in and out throughout the years. Some animals never make it out. Some will remain there until their untimely end. In more recent years, the cages would appear more and more empty. Ben Robertson makes his way to the shelters about once (sometimes) twice a month to find any animals he knows aren’t going to make it out without his help.
Typically, I’ll ask for an animal with some kind of medical problem, or whose been there the longest. You’d be surprised how long an animal will be at a shelter before ever getting adopted. Sometimes they never will. I hate that so much.” Ben said, raising his voice at the thought of thinking about animals in shelters, and not homes.
Ben is an average height man with a small belly, little hair on his head, and a mustache under his nose. After being a truck driver for over 30 years, he retired to live out the rest of his life quietly. Until something happened.
I was coming home from the store one day and saw a group of puppies running in the ditch. It was winter, and I knew they would make it to the morning. So I picked them up and drove around the countryside, offering them up to any of my neighbors who had no pets. I was able to ‘adopt’ out all but one. Maude. I figured I’d let her stay with me until the morning and take her to the shelter. She ended up being one of my best friends for 15 years.” Ben said, as you could see his eyes glass over, still missing his friend Maude.
Ben adopts 2-3 elder or sick animals a month, giving their numbered days happiness and relief. At any given time he’ll have 20-30 animals at his house in the country, right outside of Emden Illinois.
For the most part they all get along. It’s funny, I think they know the situation they’re in, and try to make the best of it. Most of the dogs and cats get along just fine. They all have their rooms they pick for themselves, and all sleep on certain beds or couches or chairs. One morning I went into one of the bedrooms to find 12 dogs and cats cuddled up on the bed. I wish I had remembered how to open the camera on my new phone. It was an amazing thing to see.” said Ben, as he pulled out a giant bag of dog food to fill up the bowls with.
Ben never married, and has no children. He doesn’t have much family (most living on the other side of the country) so he dedicates his time to taking care of his “little” family, as he likes to call it. He’s fine with his life though.”
My next writing example covers the story covering a business owner looking to give back in the sport of powerlifting.
“At the end of the day, it comes down to how much you want to help your community. It doesn’t take as much time or money as you’d think. Even word of mouth does a lot more than people think.” He pauses for a second, with a smile on his face.
“At the end of the day, I don’t push people to buy from Squat to Depth Apparel, even though you should! Haha. But really, I want people to go to meets, meet more people, and pay attention to athletes that deserve the recognition.” Al explains, with a satisfied look in his eyes.
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