Lynne Tyner Melby

My name is Lynne, and my husband Allan and I have been married since 2005. We met later in life, after both of us had already walked through hard seasons, and we built a quiet life together with faith, perseverance, and love. Allan became disabled, and after years of waiting, his disability was finally approved. During that time, I worked two jobs, and we cashed in both of our small 401(k)s to keep our home from foreclosure. We were doing everything we could just to survive. I was abandoned at age 3 along with my twin sister and three other siblings, so the pain of being unwanted has always been something I understood deeply. When Allan and I learned that we would not be able to have children of our own, we had to grieve that loss and accept a different kind of family than we had imagined. Little by little, rescued cats began coming into our lives. What started as helping one small life became our family’s purpose. Rescue helped Allan and me heal parts of our hearts that grief, loss, hardship, and disappointment had touched. Today, our rescued cats are our family. We have loved many, said goodbye to nine across the Rainbow Bridge, and continue to care for the ones God has placed in our home. BoogerRoux became the heart of our story. His special-needs journey taught us that every life has value, even when the world may see that life as different. We are not a large organization. We are a husband and wife who have tried to answer the call in front of us, one rescue at a time. Rescue has given us purpose, comfort, and a way to turn pain into love.