Sostieni Denise Dickey Larson

Through it all, I’ve become someone who gently insists on silver linings. Someone who encourages others to put on their “positive hats,” stay creative, look for meaning, and live with purpose, compassion, and love for humanity and nature.

At a young age you would find me outside wondering the Vargas hills singing a song inspired by nature while riding bareback on a pastor horse that I came upon while they were grazing. More often you would find me gently caring for wounded creatures that would find their way to me.

I have a dream to create an online gathering space for pet parents, creatives, and anyone navigating the layered journeys of adoptee identity, single parenthood, raising neurodivergent kids, caregiving, grief, abandonment healing, and aging with grace.

Hi, I’m "DD" — an adoptee who was reunited with her biological roots as an adult, discovering a creative legacy I never knew I carried. I was that kid standing at my bedroom window singing Jackson 5 songs to the whole neighborhood, imagining a stage without knowing why music felt like home. The first hand up for any school play or musical performance. Volunteering my time at the neighboring school for special needs. Assisting to orchestrate a stellar musical performance for Then Governor Ronald Regan and First Lady Nancy.

Little did I know that my biological father was an integral part of the soul-era music world as a Performer, Composer and Producer of some of our most favorite Motown songs, and long before I met him, the rhythm was already in me.

Years later, when I finally met my biological father, everything clicked. The photo you see here is from one of our lakeside karaoke nights — one of our most meaningful moments before I lost him. I chose mountain life not only for my family, but to be by his side as his caregiver through the hardest chapter of his cancer journey. Since then, I’ve entered that tender season where parents, siblings, and dear friends have passed — a place where grief and gratitude walk side by side.

Today as a retired Care Provider I support my UpCountry neighbors as a trusted pet sitter and mobile notary while nurturing my larger vision: Sparrow Song Ranch — a small rescue for pets whose owners have passed, and a community-supported sanctuary that also offers temporary lodging for the mountain heroes who protect us from wildfires, giving them and their pets a safe place to rest while they’re on duty.

Sparrow Song Ranch is a dream that can only grow through community — through shared stories, generosity, and people who believe in building something gentle and meaningful together.

If any part of my journey resonates with yours, welcome. We’ll learn together, build together, and lift each other along the way.