The sheer size of the FriendFinder universe can get a little overwhelming. There are literally millions of profiles out there, and after you’ve scrolled through a few dozen, every "who-I-am" and "what-I-want" starts sounding the same. It’s easy to forget that behind each ad hides a very real - and fascinating - human being.

Because of this, FriendFinder Magazine occasionally hosts a ‘getting to know you’ interview with one of FF’s many members. This week we sat down with SOSMindy, a vibrant sparkplug with an unusual mission.

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Could you describe yourself in a sentence or two?

I am ready to take life to the next level. After half a century of just being alive, I’m ready to really begin to live. I’ve finally come to realize that you can be in charge of your own destiny, and not let things that happen rule you!

You live in Virginia now. Did you grow up in Lorton? If not, where were you born? What was your childhood like?

I grew up in a town of about 4,000 in upstate New York. My dad was an elected judge who served for 37 years. 95% of the population was Italian and the other 5% was us -- we ate at 5 on Sundays, they all ate at 1 after Mass. I loved being invited to dinner anywhere: it was inevitably big and loud and fun. We always managed to make things work out, in the “they made sauce, we made cookies,” sense. We had meatloaf on Monday, scalloped potatoes and ham on Tuesday, so this part of my childhood was very routine.

What else? I went to a Catholic grade school in our town, then an all-girls Catholic high school 30 minutes away, and then an all-women’s college. This didn’t stop me from having boyfriends, even if finding boy FRIENDS was hard. In any case, it was very difficult for me when I graduated from college and came down here: I didn't know how to just be a friend to a male, and it took me a long time to have male friends.

You mentioned your townhouse in your profile. Have you been doing any of the 'fixing up' on your own? What's the best part? The hardest?

Except for electrical work and plumbing, most everything has been done by me, or with the help of friends. I hate directions and firmly believe that I am ADD! In any case, I always try to figure things out by myself. Sometimes, I marvel at the results, sometimes, I say "dumb sh*t". (laughs) Most of the time though, I marvel. I figure, if I don't do this, who will?


You mention, in your profile, that your dogs are important to you . . . what kind of dogs do you have? What are their names? Could you tell us a little more about what got you into dogs?

Oh, I'm so glad you asked. It’s a great question. We always had dogs growing up-- but as an adult---

Nicholas came to me as a Christmas present after I had been here a year or so. He was a Brittany. I was young and never trained him very well, so he was a handful ‒ a lovable dog, and smart as a whip, but a real handful. I had just split from a long time in-and-out relationship, and at 34 found out I was pregnant and that the dog, at 13 years, had diabetes. Not only did he live until my daughter was 2- with insulin injections, and totally blind - but he never stepped on her, and protected her and loved her until the day he died. He was a wonderful animal.

The day I got Max (who came from a former priest that was dying of AIDS) was the last time I saw my daughter Moira's father. It was a time of passing. Max was not young when he came to us, and not great to look at. He’d been abused, hit by a car, his jaw was misaligned, his fur rough and hard to pet. He was part terrier and part a million other things. The priest had trained him so well- he only would stay in the room where his bed was.

The first night he bit my daughter who was about 2 1/2 at the time. It was awful: I took him to the vet to be put to sleep and luckily he just couldn't see it. He wanted to check a few things out, and we came to find out that Max had a live nerve from being hit be the car running down his leg, and Moira must have touched it. In any case, the vet deadened the nerve and that was that--- Max outlived himself.

But I have to tell you about Molly.

Molly, a miniature Beagle, was used as a puppy mill, and from what we can tell the breeders found out that she had heartworm. My then-husband was working at an industrial complex in Maryland from 6 pm to 2 pm , and when he was getting ready to come home heard a whine and found her tied to the back bumper of the truck. She had just had a litter of puppies and had about 100 ticks on her stomach. She’d been severely abused and the vet said that there was nothing to do but give her a good home until she got to sick and then bring her in. She kept Max going and herself . . . they gave her a few months, and she went strong until she knew it was Max's time. She died two days after Christmas, and Max died a few days later. Both went very peacefully.

Anyway, I found out about a litter of beagle / spitz puppies that had been born the day that Molly died, and brought Moira over. We decided that we should take one of the males- Moo - who looked like a cow- all black and white - with the personality of my old Nicholas: hard to handle and stubborn, but lovable. He came at a great time- my marriage was falling apart and Moo helped us settle into out new life.

We now also foster and have placed a Katrina dog and are getting ready to place another one.

Needless to say, dogs are very important in our lives.

I should say so! I love that you’ve combined your love of the creatures with work for the hurricane victims. Have you always been involved in rescue work? And could you say a little more about the Katrina dogs?

I am very into FreeCycle, an organization that is all over the country that keeps items out of the landfill. You place a wanted or offer ad- say you have a chair to give away - and others read and if interested, email you and then come pick up the items.

In any case, there was an organization listed called GoodDogz that had posted asking for items for the Katrina dogs. I contacted the head of the organization, and she put me in touch with another organization, a local one, called Homeward Trails. The great thing about Homeward Trails is that they rescue and place with fosters, and then the fosters get to pick the home: the applications come to the fosters, and we check them out, talk to the adoptees and actually place the animals. It’s great because there’s no red tape and you can follow up on the animals.

Maddie and McDuff came at the same time. Maddie was placed very quickly, but McDuff was younger (about 14 months old), and not trained at all ‒ if you know what I mean! laughs McDuff had kennel cough, fleas, missing hair and a ragged coat plus lots of other problems. It’s taken a while, but he’s finally ready to be placed.

If anyone out there is interested in getting involved in any way with animal rescue, there are several avenues available, depending on the time and energy that they want to put into it. Donations of pet food always help. Many stores will sell bags that have been opened or torn for less than 1/2 price, and some will even give it away if you tell them the cause. You can also buy a certificate for neutering or spaying for an animal from the many county animal shelters for less than $70.00, and that will get an animal fixed for someone who may not be able to afford to do it otherwise - just donate the certificate to an organization.

And of course, leg work is always needed! An offer to go pick up a transport of animals that have been rescued from a bad shelter is usually really welcomed. Signing up to walk animals for a shelter or donate time is another wonderful way to help. Just going up on line and searching for info on your area will bring up a wealth of information. I’d really encourage involvement . . . animals really do depend on us for their well-being and they can be so grateful when they’re helped.

Your profile rings of enthusiasm for the future; I love how buoyant and excited it sounds. What changed in the past ten years? What gave you this shift in perspective?

Mostly it’s that the negativity has gone out of my life. Of course I was struggling before: if all you hear is what is wrong, how can you get up and sing? All of a sudden, a bright day is a bright day, not a day where it might rain. I’ve started to look at things differently. I think I’ve always been upbeat and full of life, but I found that all that I heard was negative and began to believe it. I allowed myself to get over weight, I didn't want to go out with friends . . . somehow over the years I’d changed. It took me a while to wake up and realize this, and to start getting back to who I really am.

I have to say, too, that my daughter certainly helped. We’re looking forward to her upcoming birthday trip to New Orleans to the JazzFest and listening to all that great music. I’m terribly proud of her: she’s an accomplished musician. Moira started singing as soon as she could talk. She is very musical has always been in the select choirs at school and is one of the only underclasspersons in a choir of 24 students at her school which has over 4,000 other students. She started taking bass guitar about two years ago and does a super job on "Come Monday," a Jimmy Buffett song. He is going to be at the JazzFest so she is very excited about hearing him! She has a varied music taste- from Dave Matthews Band, to Counting Crows, the Cranberries, Daniel Bedingfield and Vanessa Carleton, and she's always introducing me to and singing for me great new music. As you can tell, she is the love of my life!

But you’re still on FriendFinder . .

Well, I’d love to find someone to complete our family unit . . . and even add to it.

I have a feeling it won’t take long. Best of luck, Mindy, and thanks for your time!

Thank you!