Portrait of Amy

Amy was a physical therapist aide and an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). She was a physical therapist aide for two years and an EMT for one year. She wanted to be able to help people in any way she could, and was planning to apply for a national team in which she could respond to global emergencies.

Amy studied being an EMT at Antelope Valley College (AVC) and studied physical therapy at California State University, Northridge (CSUN).

Image Credits: Bat-Ami Gordin ©2017 all rights reserved. Credit if you use it, please.

Portrait of Ann-2

Ann was an artist at the Harbor Village Gallery & Gifts and also belonged to the Buenaventura Art Association. She created sculptures and paintings. I met her at Ventura Pirate Festival at Ventura Harbor where she came to participate in the face painting event they had.

Ann studied art at California State University, Northridge. She also studied at Ventura College and felt that there, she gained the biggest influence on her art style.

Ann sold her work mostly through galleries and at festivals and was hoping to get her a website one day, so she could sell online also.

Image Credits: Bat-Ami Gordin 2017 all rights reserved. Credit if you use it, please.

Portrait of Lema

Lema was an optician for seven years and was working for Helm Vision Group for two years when I met her. Previous to that, she had worked at LensCrafters.

Lema studied at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). She liked her job because she got “to help people see better” and that was always her goal in her endeavor to be an optician.

Lema endorsed her place of employment, saying, “Helm Vision Group is the best place to go to to get glasses and the best place to work.”

Image Credits: Bat-Ami Gordin © 2017 all rights reserved. Credit if you use it, please.

Portrait of Dena

Dena was originally from Crowley, Louisiana, USA. She moved to the Los Angeles California, USA area because of the weather. At the time of this posting, she lived in Antelope Valley which was much more conducive to her asthma issues than living in
Los Angeles.

In the past, Dena had a disabling fall that required neck surgery. Dena was a retired registered nurse, RN, and at the time of this interview, did social work.  Dena studied general sociology at California State University Northridge and studied social work at University of Southern California (USC) where she received a Masters in Social Work (MSW.)

Dena acquired her female German Shepherd dog, Gracie, from a breeder, which she normally would not do. But Dena believed that since Gracie had a lot of problems, had someone else adopted Gracie, she would have ended up as an owner surrender, most likely in the pound. Dena had patience for Gracie and kept her and loved her. It was when Dena realized just how serious Gracie’s fear problems were, that she started training in agility with Mary, from Palmdale, California, USA.

Mary helped Gracie get over her problems by training her (along with Dena, of course) to participate in agility. When Gracie had it all together, Dena started her male dog, Harlem, a Siberian Husky, in agility training (see below). This was approximately three months prior to my meeting Dena. The fun run, where we met, was just the perfect venue and level for him (see my Portrait of Jean for more info about the fun run.)

Harlem was Dena’s daughter’s seizure dog. Her daughter was having 25 to 30 seizures a day and Harlem saved her life. Due to Harlem’s unique talents, Dena and Harlem were also training to be a therapy dog team with the goal of volunteering with pediatric oncology patients at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Harlem was very large for a husky and looked like a small Malamute to me. He was adorable and lovable and very friendly. Dena was a great person who I would be honored to have as a friend.

Harlem and Dena. What a team

Image Credits: Bat-Ami Gordin © 2017 all rights reserved. Credit if you use it, please.