Special Needs Pups - My Martian Children

This afternoon, I caught a movie I hadn't seen before on HBO called "Martian Child." I'm a huge fan of John Cusack and have his autograph in my senior yearbook since our school was smack dab in the middle of the set for The Movie. Anyhow, I kept it on while I was working and found myself really relating to the whole plot.

Basically, Cusack's character decides to adopt a special child, Dennis, that has been abandoned by his parents. As his way of coping, Dennis tells everyone he is from Mars and that he is here just for a mission. He speaks his own language, has his own way of dressing and doing things, and doesn't socialize well with other children. Cusack grows to love Dennis despite everyone else telling him that Dennis may be too much for him and his sister even tries to convince him to give Dennis back. But Cusack stands firm and convinces Dennis of his love and unconditional understanding. It's pretty much the way I feel about our special needs pets.

Right now, I am fostering five special needs pets. It's like a science fair experiment as they never tell us up front what is wrong, we find out along the way. We just give what we have and hope for the best. Sometimes, they sit with us for a long time, waiting for someone else to come along that will see what we see, but in the world of animal adoption, it's not always easy for people to see past the superficial, which hurts me sometimes.

Those who see Hope today for the first time would never understand her transformation in the last two months. A dog, left abandoned on a chain, no one to care for her, had absolutely no reason to accept the kindness of a human without question. Yet as we cleaned her wound daily, left behind after the chain was removed, we found it hard to keep her still from the constant kisses she was giving. Today, her wound is completely healed and her fur has grown over most of the scars. She prances in and out of the house, happily taking jaunts around the yard then immediately back in for some good lap cuddling time. I could swear she smiles at us, thanking us every day for giving her a dry, clean place to stay, good nutrition, and constant praise for being the good girl no one ever noticed before. Now all that is left is for someone else to look in her eyes and see all the love and adventure she has to offer.

So here I sit, typing away, my little Martian child snoring with her favorite stuffed animal. She's safe and loved. I guess that makes it a pretty good day.