Sandi was one of those people you couldn't say "no" to.  Whether it was a fundraiser for children in need of medical care, or Boy Scouts requiring facilities, when Sandi called, you didn't hesitate. You just said, "sure, when do you need me there?"

A school teacher in Anaheim for many years, she married a local man who towered probably a foot taller than her. He loved and cared for Sandi as her health diminished and she bravely fought cancer. It was a pretty long battle lasting years. She looked for small milestones of improvement and conquering the beast. But with her body in weakened state, she finally passed.

Sandi had all the money you could want. She never lacked for material things. But when she became ill, what she missed the most was teaching, and the busy lifestyle she thrived on.  So she took her living room and set it up like a school room. At one end was the desk that she, the teacher, sat in. On the leather sofa out there in the class room (where she spent more time as her health declined) were her poodles. She had such a love for the little animals that the family of them grew to three after this portrait was taken.  She adopted another little fellow from a shelter so its life would be spared.

We had to really work hard to get these characters to sit still. They either slept, or moved. There was no in between. You can see in their eager eyes that Sandi had was standing next to me. She worked with them to try to keep them at bay ever so briefly.

When you celebrate the holidays, a pet portrait makes a nice card to send to friends.