LIMA, OH (WLIO) -Â Meet Sophie Starr, a Lima native and 2009 Shawnee graduate, published author, and unapologetic dog mom. Sophie published her first book last June, 'Roman to the Rescue'. A true story about a girl who finds a dog in the woods and unexpectedly leaves a pawprint on her life.
"Roman was a puppy from Ghana, West Africa. I was over there in 2012, doing some—it's hard to describe what I was doing over there; it was kind of a soul-searching journey. I was really lost at that time in my life, just looking for some sort of purpose and some sort of meaning. Long story short, I found myself over in Ghana, and I met this puppy and I had never had a pet before; I had never had animals, and all of a sudden, I saw this puppy and there was an instant connection," said Starr.
The connection was instant for the unlikely pair, and while Sophie had found a love in her new furry friend, there was more to their journey than just a flight back home.
"Something that I really was struggling with when I met Roman was just like trusting myself and having self-confidence. And when I met Roman, he immediately had this blind faith in me. He would just look right at me; it didn't matter where we were. I mean, we went through some perilous times together over there and back home, and he never sweated it. He just knew if he was with me, he was okay. So, to be around a being like that every day, it was impossible not to think, 'Okay, maybe I do have what it takes to overcome these different obstacles in my life, and maybe I am someone that I can trust, and I can be confident in because he's just so innately confident in me," commented Starr on how Roman taught her so much about herself.
Sophie had Roman for 10 years until he passed away in January 2022. After that, she began putting pen to paper and telling her and Roman's story for others to read and be inspired by life's hurdles that she and Roman overcame together.
"When I went to Ghana, it was right after I had gotten out of in-patient treatment and so I was really struggling to find my recovery, my own journey through sobriety and roman by giving me purpose and giving me self-confidence, that was the main thing he really gave me was this ability and this knowing that 'okay I can live a different way and so I feel like because roman left me with that gift I wanted to pass that on in the book for adults who are maybe, you know they buy the book for their kids but maybe that's a part of their story too." said Starr on including messages of recovery in her book, aimed at helping both kids and adults despite the fact the book is mainly intended for children.
Sophie works closely with animal shelters both in the United States and even Mexico. A portion of proceeds from book sales go to animal shelters she works with, and she encourages people to adopt sheltered pets to find homes and hopefully find their own Roman.
"I looked at all these other animals, and I'm like, 'They're little Romans.' You know, I immediately felt this intensity to protect. Before Roman, I was really unfamiliar with the world of rescue and really just animals in general, and then, when I really came home and started learning about the statistics and started volunteering with local shelters, I realized there is such a need. And unfortunately, well-intentioned shelter workers don't have many options except for euthanasia to make more space for animals in need and so I think that for me, what it boiled down to is for myself is if I say I love these animals and I say I want to help them, then I cannot actively harm their species by contributing to or by making a purchase that's going to cause other dogs to suffer." Sophie stated about working with animals in shelters and how rescuing Roman inspired her to continue working with rescue animals to find them homes.
Sophie is in the midst of writing her second book about one of her cats, Gypsie, that she rescued, but it all started with Roman. A true love story between a pair from opposite sides of the world that changed each other's lives forever.
You can buy 'Roman to the Rescue' on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble bookstores. You can also get Sophie's book digitally anywhere you can buy e-books.
