I still remember the day I first saw Gracie’s picture. A little ball of fur with her front legs missing, abandoned to her fate. Isn’t it crazy? How could anyone turn their backs on such an innocent creature? And yet, that’s exactly what happened
Gracie was born without her front legs. And her first family? Well, they decided they didn’t want to bother with caring for her. So, they just abandoned her. Yeah, they did. They left her there, all alone, in front of a veterinary clinic, covered in maggots, with patches of fur missing everywhere. It almost sounds like something out of a movie, but it was real.
Thankfully, the vet who found her contacted Mostly Mutts, an animal shelter in Kennesaw, Georgia. And that’s when things started to change for Gracie. Tammy and her family, who run Mostly Mutts, fell in love with this little dog right away. It’s funny because at first they thought they were going to find her a family, but it didn’t take long for them to realize she had already found hers. Yep, they decided to keep her.

Unlike her first family, the Turleys didn’t see Gracie’s disability as a problem. To them, being different didn’t make Gracie any less worthy of love. It was simple: she was sweet, affectionate, and full of life. How could you not love her? They saw in her a little fighter, and she fit right in with their family like she’d always been there
But wait, there’s more! The Turley family wasn’t new to “differently-abled” animals (that’s a word, right?). Gracie quickly discovered that she wasn’t the only one with physical challenges. Her new brother, for example, was paralyzed in his back legs, and his sister only had three legs. But guess what? These two were just as happy and affectionate as any other dog, and they were thrilled to welcome a new baby sister.
Gracie could get around using her back legs, but Tammy knew she needed something safer. A wheelchair, maybe? But here’s the thing: Gracie was still a puppy, and she was growing fast. So she needed an adjustable wheelchair to keep up with her growth. And here’s where things got awesome.
A 12-year-old boy named Dylan, who was volunteering at Mostly Mutts, had a brilliant idea: why not build her a LEGO wheelchair? I can see you smiling now, but wait… it worked! After a little while of adjusting, Gracie was spinning around on her new wheels. And when she got bigger, Dylan was there to build her a bigger chair. In total, he built her three before she was old enough for a permanent “adult” wheelchair.
Thanks to the Turleys’ love and Dylan’s ingenuity, Gracie now lives a life full of joy and adventure. Her Facebook (yes, she has her own account, of course!) is filled with adorable photos of her frolicking around in her new wheels. She is no longer the little stray dog, but a proud member of the Turley family.

I think there is a great lesson in Gracie’s story. Sometimes life throws us challenges we don’t expect. But what matters is how we choose to respond to them. The Turley family chose love and compassion. They saw more in Gracie than her disability, and they gave her the chance to live the life she deserves.