Bent, Not Broken...
We thought it fitting to name our first blog post after our bright Wild Dogs... This collection after all was named after words that were first brought to us by Lee Ann's husband, Gary. Lee Ann's story is so deeply intwined with her husband, his name is one of the first things she'll tell a new person when they meet. A love beyond... beyond circumstances, beyond illness, beyond time, beyond lifetimes; a love she still has not forgotten, even beyond the odds.
If it were not for her deep love for her husband and family Lee Ann may never have even created these endearing collections we fall in love with still, each day. When Gary and Lee Ann were raising their 3 teenage children, Gary received devastating news. He had glioblastoma multiform, or as most know it - brain cancer. Though it was his tough and fatherly nature to try to protect his wife and children against the harsh realities of life, he eventually learned to lean on his dear Lee Ann, who fought against everything to keep her husband alive for nearly five years beyond his initial prognosis.
During this time, Lee Ann sought comfort in her lifelong hobby and career, painting. She sat down and painted her pwn dear pets, who kept her company through the most difficult of times raising three children and caring for her terminally ill husband. She discovered the online marketplace community nearly 20 years ago and began her journey as dog portraitist and artist.
Though she made many friends, and touched many people through her journey, our dear Lee Ann's own health was declining. Unable to heal the deep wounds of mourning, Lee Ann slipped into despair which untreated and unattended to found its way to a diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia.
Her decline through her condition has been rapid in the past few years since diagnosis, she has lost her ability to paint and communicate, though keeps her memories of her beloved husband and family near, only once more, representing her deep love for her children and late spouse. Though a difficult transition, Lee Ann is now living with her grandchildren and daughter in a peaceful town in Alberta.
She loves walking in the summertime and looking out on the Rockies, petting dogs as they pass and listening and sharing music with others. Though life can be difficult, unfair, and at times cruel, Gary, and now Lee Ann help spread the beauty in life with their simple, but meaningful message, we are simply Bent, Not Broken.