23/06/2024
A friendly epistle from Saint Vincent's Home
Hi friends, those far and near.
Im writing this epistle whilst listening to Chopin's piano music on youtube . I wish I had my old Knabe piano back again. I have asked before if anyone has an old grand piano they dont use that would care to donate it here. I would gladly pay the shipping. The only trouble is that three scammers tried to get me to pay for a piano that didnt exist in the past year. Im glad I caught on to it before I sent them any money. I liked playing Chopin more than other music.
Today, saturday 22 June, a young fellow came to our front door pushing a wheelbarrow with a large street dog tied down with nylon rope. He said she was 2 months pregnant, and he could not keep her. I saw this guy's face before. i think he was here a few months ago giving me some puppies or another dog. The guy is irresponsible and should not have any dogs. Aranza and her sister were at the door with me, and I asked her to tell him that I would receive this dog, but that he must not come here again with any more dogs. She told him and he agreed, and we now have another pregnant dog to deal with. The only problem is, we dont have a veterinarian to help, and most likely the puppies will die as others have.
I promised myself I would not write an sad news, since most people do not like to read about any of the problems we have here sometimes.
If you read my last epistle at the beginning of this month, I said I was able to pay the one vet two invoices with the donations that came in. I still owe her one more invoice that must be paid.
I still owe the back rent on this property for over a year. There just is never enough money to pay the bills, the vets, the rent, the workers and to pay the biggest bill, is the dog food. The government still charges 16% sales tax on dog food.
The few donations that came in this week allowed me to buy 4 bags of food yesterday at Sam's Club. It is enough to get through till monday morning.. Today and tomorrow, I have to give my 3 workers IOU's again telling them I would pay them on monday. At the moment there is only $8 left in the bank account. We still have 200 dogs living here with no adoptions.
Im happy to say it started raining here this week. So, the air is cooled off and
Our trees, plants, and flowers now have water. I remember as a teenager walking down 5th Avenue in Manhattan, I stopped a cop wearing a long blue over coat . On his collar it had 3 GOLD Letters. I asked him what TPF stood for. He said, "trees , plants and flowers". I told him my uncle was a police detective. When I told him his name, he said he knew him. He also told me TPF really means Tactical police force. Learn something new every day. He was friendly and I went on my way. To make a long story even longer, on another day walking across the street from the big NYC Public Library on 5th Avenue, I saw walking towards me, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. As we passed each other, I smiled and said hello and so did he. He was wearing a dark gray business suit , carrying a briefcase. What I remember the most was that he had intense blue eyes. Im only sorry I didnt stop to talk to him, but I thought people annoy him every day like that, so I didnt want to be rude. I later realized I could have asked him to help me to play the big organ in St. Patrick's Cathedral. Only one of the few in NYC I didnt get to play because to get to it, you needed a key to the elevator that went up to the organ in the balcony. Im still not able to play any pipe organ here in Guadalajara. Its the most disappointing thing for me about living here.
Im sorry I went off the subject again. I like to write about things in my past sometimes that bring back a fond memory. I really should write a book about my life. Some folks might find it interesting. The reports of my being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize are greatly exaggerated.
Im happy to report that we now have water again coming in from the city, so I dont have to pay for a p**a again. At least for awhile. Who knows how long it will last¿
Since no water had been coming into our cistern, I thought there must be a problem with the cistern. So I was able to find and hire and plumber that was a cistern fixer. He came and ran a hose from the water pipe in the street to our cistern. It is temporary. He will come in a few days to make the work correct. At least for the moment we have water coming into the cistern again.
Regarding our doggies and donations. Im sorry to say that I have heard that all rescue places are hurting for donations and adoptions just like us.
If you are in good financial shape and would like to help us with a donation, even a small donation always ads up. You can send through payal to [email protected]. OR www.fundrazr.com/stvincentshome.
Please buy lottery tickets for us if you are in the USA. If you want to send a large donation, it would be best to send a wire transfer directly to our bank in the USA to avoid paypal fees. Let me know, and I will provide the address to mail a check.
If you are local, you can send a donation using our CLABE # 030320076518002012. Banco Del Bajo, Lawrence G. Smith.
I hope everyone is surviving the terrible heat, floods, rain, and wildfires. Im sorry to see on the news every night so many people who have lost their homes and have been displaced. I tell my friends here, when I cant pay the rent anymore, they can find me living in a cardboard box under a bridge.
Thanks to so many kind people who try every month to help feed our dogs. Its just barely enough to scrape by each week. We try to stretch the food as possible to keep them from starving. Please share this with your pals. We need all the help we can get to keep going. If you plan to visit Guadalajara and would like to visit our mission here, just drop me a note and we can set up a time for you to visit. I thank you; our workers thank you, and our doggies thank you.
Have a wonderful life.
With kind regards,
Lawrence