Author Description

This small book is dedicated to all the animals in my life and the readers' lives that have generously given their unconditional love and made us less selfish creatures. Ursula lived to be 10 years old. I began drawing pictures of her when she was still a pup. Her sense of fun and humor kept me smiling even as I lived through troubled times. Ursula was born in a thundering rainstorm during the month of December on the back porch of a large old house in Southern California. Her mother had climbed up on the back porch, scratched at the door looking for the company of her humans, but no one was home, so Mother Dog sat down in front of the door on the WELCOME mat and went about the work of bringing five new puppies into the world. The pups were beautiful. Two were females, one white, one apricot colored, two males all black, and then there was Ursula. She was the last and smallest one to be born. The runt. She was all black, except for her snout, which was white with black freckles, and she had a white bib under her chin and three white feet. They were all Terrapoos, because Mother Dog was Terrier, and Father Dog was a Miniature Poodle. People came and scooped up those puppies and carried them away. All except Ursula. She was shy. She would run behind her mother and yap yap yap when anyone new approached them. I sat very still and pretty soon that little black ball of fur with white freckles on its nose started over to me, wiggling her tail and her whole back side. She did not bark. She came right up to me, but I didn't reach out my hand. I didn't want to startle her. She straddled over my foot and I started scratching her ears. Then she peed on my foot. I giggled. The people behind me laughed.Teresa chose to become an artist at age 5 and an author at age 10. While working toward those goals she birthed and raised five children, earned and English/writing degree, worked for the benefit of children through Indian Education and Child Protective services. She also became a