Broken bones

It’s been two full days, and our new fur kid, Asta, is assimilating nicely. She’s not as shy, coming to us when we call, and letting us pet and hold her.  She’s playfully interacting with our older dog, Hershey, and seems comfortable in her new home.

One reason we were so charmed by her, is that she is physically challenged. She will have a pin in her hip, a remanent from her surgery, for another month. Her injured leg appears shorter now, and the prognosis is that she’ll always have a limp.

For older dogs, imperfect dogs, it’s much harder to find Forever Homes. We sought out such a dog, mainly on the expressed wish of our son. Being a bit different himself, he can empathize and wanted to give a loving home to a needy pet.

Watching Asta peacefully sleeping this morning, the Mister mentioned how much happier she seems, and asked if I was still glad we adopted her.

“Do you still like your smelly, broken Valentine gift?”

I told him about the Japanese tradition of repairing broken pottery with gold-filled resin. The art of Kintsugi, “golden joinery,”  mends shattered vessels so that they are considered better and more beautiful.  I said I thought of Asta like that. She was broken, but with all the love we can offer, her wounds would mend and be made more beautiful.

“I don’t know, I don’t think we should spray paint her gold,” he said.

“Don’t worry, I have gold nail polish.”

“I feel the same way about your appendix.”

I love you too, Hon.

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something’s suffered damage and has a history, it becomes more beautiful.” ~ Barbara Bloom