Sylvanie

I hate the spotlight. The stage is a scary place. I just want a quiet life. But this cause is worth it. Lucy is worth it. This is not just about Lucy. What has happened to me and Lucy will happen again. It will repeat, over and over. In Kalamazoo, Michigan. In Walla Walla, Washington. In Schenectady, New York. To Joe and Buddy. To Mike and Sadie. To Jane and Teddy. It will happen to them, but nobody will know. They will love their dogs no less than I love Lucy, but nobody will hear their story. It will not steal the spotlight the way Lucy's story has. They will cry out for justice, but it will be in vain. Few will listen. Few, but the Lord above will. God put Lucy and me in the spotlight to be their voice. To advocate for Joe, Mike, and Jane. To advocate for Buddy, Sadie, and Teddy. To push for change. Lord, let me live up to the responsibility you have placed on my shoulders. This crap needs to never happen again. Never, never, never, never, never. #SaveLucy @Herb_Minstrel @LoneStarChica @catturd2

In the wake of our press release, some of our neighbors have come out of the woodwork to tell “their side” of the story. The anger raging in me is real right now—so forgive this long post—but I am done with the lies, gossip, and half-truths that keep getting spread around as fact. Fact: Our neighbors had an issue with us since the day we moved in — long before Lucy was ever involved. After moving in, I went over to introduce myself and was met with obvious coldness. It’s always baffled me. For well over a year BEFORE the incident with Lucy, we dealt with constant complaints, repeated police visits (well over a dozen!), complaints about dogs barking (from houses football fields away!), specious animal welfare checks, and multiple court appearances over complaints that never held up. Every single time these matters reached court, the rulings overwhelmingly fell in our favor. Every time. We have fought tooth and nail simply for the right to live peacefully on our own property and maintain our homestead beside an elitist neighborhood that has made it abundantly clear they do not want us here. The situation with Lucy simply became the opportunity certain individuals had been waiting for to finally try to push our family out for good. For two years these neighbors have used the authorities and legal system to intimidate and abuse us. I have dozens of messages and documented interactions showing the hostility our family has faced from the beginning — being told to leave, move elsewhere, and being treated as though we do not belong here. I have proof of gossip chains where deliberate, blatant lies have been spread as fact about us. The fearmongering got so out of control that even our mail delivery was affected. We had to make daily trips to the post office because our delivery driver became afraid to come to our house due to rumors that we had “multiple dangerous dogs.” Furthermore, the amount of surveillance and stalking required so that people who live miles away with zero view of our property know about the happenings of our homestead is unsettling at the least! They have even shared screenshots from my personal social media accounts with each other while spreading more lies and rumors. Half of these people involved we’ve never even met! All of which I have physical proof of. None of that has anything to do with Lucy! People can say whatever they want online, but I invite anyone to come see our little farm and our animals for themselves. Our animals are healthy, loved, and well cared for. I have devoted my entire life to creating a healthy and peaceful environment and life for my family, and anyone who has actually visited our property or knows us personally knows that. Our fencing is secure (my husband has seen to that), and it has been well over a year since any thing has been able to enter or exit our animal fields. Facts: We are not perfect people, and we don’t pretend to be. But we are good people. We work hard, and have cooperated every step of the way — even voluntarily accepting restrictions and labels on our elderly dog in hopes that it would finally satisfy the complaints and allow us peace. Instead, those concessions became weapons used against us, and our neighbors have never offered an ounce of grace. Ever. A month ago Lucy slipped out of her collar for mere seconds on our own property. A neighbor happened to see it, calls were immediately made, and suddenly we found ourselves fighting not only for our dog’s life, but against serious legal consequences and public character assassination. Despite the rumors, despite the harassment, and despite the attempts to paint us as irresponsible or dangerous, the actual legal record speaks for itself. So yes — if people want “both sides,” then they deserve to hear this side too. Because for far too long, our family has stayed silent while our names and character have been publicly dragged through the mud and torn apart for years. And I’m over it. #savelucy

Before I settled into the beautiful and sacred role of becoming a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother to our four kiddos, I spent decades as a professional musician and teacher. When I closed my music school in 2022, it broke my heart so deeply that I swore I would never own another business again. But I have always been someone who needs to create. My love of art, beauty, homemaking, service to my community, health and research led me to something new. What began as homemade soaps and beeswax candles eventually became The Mulberry Patch after I sold out at a small church market that a friend convinced me attend. I’ve since returned to school to study herbal medicine and have poured myself into creating practical, handcrafted goods inspired by simple living, old-world traditions, and the beauty of the natural world. I strive to make ordinary moments intentional and magical. And through it all, Lucy has been there. Many years ago, after a bear wiped out our first flock of chickens in a single night, we wondered if Lucy might make a good livestock guardian dog. Within days, she had made the fields her home and appointed herself protector of every creature we owned. What began as a handful of chickens slowly grew into a true little homestead filled with sheep, goats, ducks, geese, wool, gardens, muddy boots, hard work, and eventually three more crazy dogs, including our two Pyrenees and sweet Lex, our other military rescue and Lucy’s very best friend. This little business and homestead have become woven into the very fabric of our family. It represents everything we love: creativity, self-reliance, serving others, raising our children close to the land, and building a life centered around beauty, freedom, our faith, and community. Many of you have continued asking how you can help us as we fight to bring our Lucy home. Asking for financial help is not easy for us, and the generosity of everyone has been deeply humbling and profoundly inspiring. I truly mean that. The reality is that we are facing a long legal battle—not only to bring Lucy home where she belongs, but also to protect our family, keep my husband home with us, and fight back against an unjust dangerous dog declaration. Our hope is not only to help our own family through this, but to bring awareness to laws and systems that can devastate ordinary people, and hopefully help create change that protects future generations as well. I deeply believe in the exchange of meaningful goods, and in creating beauty even in sadness. I wanted to make something special in honor of Lucy and this journey. I have created handmade bracelets using authentic Miyuki glass beads in the colors of our stars and stripes, along with a genuine mother-of-pearl heart representing our sweet Lucy, whose name comes from the Arabic phrase meaning “pearl of the desert.” These bracelets are simple, but to me they represent love of family, love of country, resilience, freedom, and the beautiful way something painful can become something meaningful and unifying. If you choose to wear one, you’ll carry a little piece of Lucy’s story with you. A story that has somehow reached millions across the world, brought people from all walks of life together, and reminded us that ordinary people still matter! It is also just a small way that I wanted to say thank you ♥️ If you would like to donate in exchange for one of these bracelets, you can visit my shop at MulberryPatchHome.com and select the Lucy bracelet listing. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for continuing to stand beside our family, pray for Lucy, and fight alongside us for justice, freedom, and the hope of bringing our girl home. ⬇️You can find the bracelets here: mulberrypatchhome.com/product-page/l…

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After I separated from the military, I continued to deploy as a contractor. Many don't realize that we often claim to have no boots on the ground in a given theater because we have no uniformed troops there. But we do. Their uniform is 5.11 cargo pants and black zip-up fleeces. I know. I was one of them. I didn't ask to stop deploying. I was forced into it. I got a bad neurological report. Spinocerebellar ataxia, type 14. Never heard of it, right? It's one of the rare ones. I think of it like a slow progressing ALS. It's characterized by a steadily deteriorating sense of balance and coordination. It makes things that used to be easy, difficult. It makes things that used to be difficult, impossible. It's not going to shorten my life, God willing, but it will make my later years look different than I had hoped. I obviously couldn't keep deploying. I did my final tour - one last hurrah to the same desert where I had earlier met Lucy. It was a much safer place this time. I made a point to stop by our old camp and visit the spot where I had once played with my dog when she was a sad faced pup in the desert. What I didn't know is that a short time later, I'd be out of a job, a casualty of Biden's vaccine mandate. As someone rendered non-deployable, nobody went to bat for me. In those uncertain times, they wanted to retain the people they could use as boots on the ground. So I was shown the door. It felt like Uncle Sam had spat in my face. At the same time, @Herb_Minstrel's music school closed on orders of the Virginia Health Department prohibiting in-person music lessons. In the blink of an eye, our family's source of income had disappeared. But Lucy remained a source of comfort. When I deployed, I felt better leaving my wife and kids knowing she was home to protect them. When I had to stop traveling, she kept my experiences alive; a living, breathing link to the past. D.C. once took away my livelihood. Richmond took away my wife's. Now, the county is trying to take away our dog. We can't let them. #SaveLucy

Our fight to #SaveLucy, the dog who survived war, is getting media attention. She saved me ten years ago. Now I'm fighting to save her. Thanks to Mason Willett at WHSV Harrisonburg. @Herb_Minstrel is radiant. @LoneStarChica, this couldn't have happened without you. @catturd2