"This year I led a week-long trip to swim with the humpback whales where they have their babies each year. It is impossible to describe floating in the ocean with a gentle 50-foot creature who allows her baby to swim up to you." So began SOS co-founder Judith White's year. Although she was a ferret lover from the moment her daughter introduced her to them. "Rebecca had fallen in love with a ferret she met in the neighborhood. At a pet store one evening, the crafty sales people let two ferrets out in the empty store. We laughed so hard at their weasel war dances that we were ferret people from that moment." Their antics did not stop in the store. One night Judith found Kermit in the top drawer of an empty dresser. He had opened the bottom drawer from below, climbed in, and opened each drawer in turn until he got to the top. While ferret antics are fun, Judith's focus moved from fun to purpose. "Belonging to the FML changed my focus from being a ferret companion to being a ferret shelter supporter. I so much admired the incredible work the shelter operators were doing I had to help." That was the beginnings of Support Our Shelters, which works with shelters to help provide needed veterinary care to shelter ferrets. This interest in others is evident in Judith's desire to see healing in action. "I would spend 24 hours with Jesus as he laid hands on people to heal them and then went to their houses to eat and drink and laugh with them." Other than Rebecca, Judith and her husband Eric have a son, Paul. Several years ago Judith became interested in reiki. "I practice two forms of energy healing work. Reiki is energy healing that provides relaxation, pain relief, and accelerated physical healing. The Healing Codes are a form of energy psychology that remove stress and heal the emotional issues that cause most of our problems. Both can be done over distance." To relax, Judith works her healing work on herself "and I sit in nature and soak in the incomprehensible beauty." She also likes to read, especially popular physics, books on spiritual healing and good fiction. Her favorite book is animal-related - The Sense of Being Stared At by Rupert Sheldrake, a developmental biologist. "I think An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore is the most important movie in decades. I love classical, country, gospel, blues, and rock music." And who does this diverse woman look up to? "I deeply admire Martin Luther. He was able to look at his faith with fresh eyes and an open heart. He was not afraid to confront the church of his day with the ways they had distorted the truth to their political and financial advantage." Meet Judith in Portland as she talks to us about the roots and work of SOS. And remember her as a person who offers hope to others in need. You can learn more about her at http://www.Reiki4Healing.com and http://www.TheHealingCodes.com/judith. Contact her by email at [log in to unmask] or call her at 610-626-6647 -- renee :) It's amazing how much can be accomplished if nobody cares who gets the credit! Ferret Emergency Response, Rescue & Evacuation Team (F.E.R.R.E.T.) http://www.ferretemergency.org [log in to unmask] International Ferret Congress http://www.ferretcongress.org American Red Cross http://www.redcross.org [Posted in FML 5635]