This is Edgar, a Brittney Spaniel we recently adopted from the South Wood County Humane Society. When you adopt an animal from the SWCHS they give you a lot of information on your new friend. And I mean A LOT! For Edgar we were told he was brought in as a stray, they gave him the name Edgar (which just seemed to fit him, honestly), and he’s approximately 13 years old. We were told Edgar has a heart murmur, arthritis, he’s blind in one eye, and he’s hard of hearing. They told us that Edgar had some scars from a rough life before he came to the SWCHS. That’s a lot of information to take in. The problem, however, is that as wonderful as the people at the SWCHS are, they left out a rather big piece of information about Edgar. You see, Edgar is also magic. Believe me, I can hear the eye rolls now, but bear with me.
I’d now like to introduce you to my son, Aaryn. Aaryn is a great boy. He’s very smart, loves video games, and is a wiz at math and science. Aaryn also has Tourette’s syndrome, OCD, ADHD, and autism. While Aaryn is an amazing boy, he struggles to connect with anyone or anything. Aaryn has had a very rough time both in school and out in the world because he has trouble interacting with others. Aaryn also struggles with animals. Prior to Edgar, we had three dogs, two cats, and a parrot. Aaryn would get nervous and keep a distance when any of them were even near him.
One day my wife Kelly, my son Aaryn, and I all went to the SWCHS to help them with some computer trouble they were having and, while there, they brought Edgar out to meet us. Something magical happened that day, however. Aaryn went over to Edgar. He petted Edgar. He empathized with Edgar, feeling bad for the hard life Edgar had. These were all things Kelly and I had never seen in our son before. When we returned home Aaryn couldn’t stop talking about Edgar, for a solid week. But even beyond that Aaryn began petting and interacting with our other animals. Where he would normally shoo them away and step back when they would approach, now he would come up to them, pet them, talk nicely to them, give them treats. We couldn’t explain it. After a week we returned to the SWCHS and brought Edgar home with us. My son now takes care of Edgar’s every need, and he’s very protective of him. The changes we’ve seen in Aaryn have only grown.
We weren’t looking for a dog when we went into the SWCHS that day, but Kelly, Aaryn, and I will be eternally grateful that they introduced us to such a magical dog as Edgar.
Sadly, Edgar passed away due to complications from cancer on May 23, 2019. Although Edgar’s time with us was short, the impact he had on our family and on Aaryn was eternal.