I’m never ready for it. The moment I have to hand over a dog that I’ve grown to love and cherish. Eddy was special to me. I had to win his trust and affection. He had been hurt in many ways. He’s a smart, tough little fellow, who has met each twist and turn in his life with bravery. I had been looking for a new home for him, without much luck.

His new family happened by accident. I was walking Eddy when a small boy ran out between two parked cars. His mother was hot on his heels. He could have been hit by the traffic that sped by. She was shaken. The child upset. I went to pass by, but Eddy struggled to get near the boy. The dog sat by the feet of the child, looking up into his face. I had the strongest feeling that something beautiful was happening. The boy’s mother and I talked while watching the two.

She had tears in her eyes. “My husband left us a year ago.” The words spoken so softly, weighed heavy on her heart. “Things were going from bad to worse. He lost his job.” She paused, “My son misses him so much.” I looked at her son who was smiling, petting Eddy who had glued himself to the child. They were interacting on a level I couldn’t understand. I felt instinctively that what I was seeing was a gift to the boy and dog.

I explained Eddy’s past to the woman. How he had been abused at the hands of his former owner. His paws were still tender, he would need medical care for some time yet. She told me she was living on her own, working out of her home. She wanted to be at home for her son. Sometimes when I work with dogs, I get a feeling that I should simply allow things to unfold in their own way. I knew she wanted Eddy. My job was to make sure she had the time, money and a strong commitment to take my wee stray in as a full member of her family. She especially needed a huge loving heart.

We went to her home. I was shown around. Her son’s room was crammed with toys. Eddy jumped up onto the lad’s bed, making himself right at home. The woman smiled when her son hopped up beside the dog. Within a few minutes they fell asleep, wound around each other, hands and paws touching.

As I listened to the woman talk about her life, I knew in my heart that this was Eddy’s home. She adored dogs. Her son had been asking for his own dog for a long time. She said she had to find just the right one. A special little dog for her special needs child.

Her little boy is partly blind, has little hearing, his small hands don’t have all the fingers, one leg is shorter than the other. Even when he grows into a man his mind will remain that of a ten year old. He has been picked on at school, tormented until she decided to keep him at home. He was even slapped by his daddy who only saw the flaws in his son. His daddy had left, calling his precious boy son, ” Nothing but a piece of garbage.” All I could see a loving, gentle, sweet natured wee boy. His smile alone would melt a frozen river.

Eddy’s physicl wounds will heal. He’ll likely always carry some emotional scars from being treated so brutally at the hands of a human. It didn’t matter to Eddy if the boy couldn’t see, hear or looked different. My stray boy dog felt a kindred spirit in the child.

I was going to pick Eddy up then return home. I felt the child and dog needed some time for adjustment. When I gathered up my dog, he struggled with all his might to get back to the boy. I knew in that moment my parting time had come. These two, each with their wounds of the heart, didn’t need anything more than each other. My work with this stray dog was finished. Nothing more was needed. I left the house, tears streaming down my face. Inside the home, another woman wept, her tears were joyful. I had empty arms, but a feeling that in some small way, a wrong in the world, had been set right. Eddy was home!

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