“Homeless numbers stay consistent” was the headline, dry, emotionless words that seemed to conflict with what I saw in the despondent slump of the woman’s body, the concern in the attitude of her dog.
The story was about homeless statistics, but it was also about Melissa Rogers, the woman in the photo. Rogers, it said, can’t work because of a disability, and was going to be kicked out of her room at the Cedars Motel within a week. With pets and no money, I wondered, where could she go?
Melissa’s husband had left her three weeks before, and she had to move to a hotel that would accept pets. She has brittle diabetes and is starting dialysis. She just got out of the hospital for a blood clot. A certified nursing assistant who was an honor student in college studying psychology before falling on hard times, she’s permanently disabled and lives on a meager Social Security disability income.
Melissa’s love of her pets is obvious, and she’s struggled mightily to keep her pets’ preventive care current, address their medical needs and to buy food. She said she’s gone without so her pets wouldn’t suffer. As Teresa and I hugged her, she softly said, “My pets are the reason I get up every morning. I love them. Need them. As they do me.”
It was on my heart today that while you can’t help everybody, you can help somebody. People who face hardship not only love their pets just as much as every one of us does, but sometimes the human-animal bond is the greatest, or even the only, sustaining force in their lives. A few bags of pet food, a few weeks’ rent, a visit to the veterinarian — there is so much we can do to honor The Bond, and keep love and hope alive in their hearts.
Photos:
Top: The article in the Coeur d’Alene Press where I first saw Melissa and her pets.
Middle: Sullivan, Melissa’s Boxer, gazing out the window as we left.
Bottom: Melissa, Sullivan and Brandon sitting with me on the stairs of her hotel.
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The mother of the photographer snuggles with Chuck during her weeks of radiation therapy. According to a New York Times article, interacting with a dog during radiation therapy does no more to enhance morale than reading a book. Um, don't tell that to this woman, or millions of others whose dogs have been their godsends during chemo and radiation... (Photo: Flickr photostream of Sophia-O)
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