Monday, December 9, 2013

Simmons, the Toothless Wonder Dog




 The Background…

In July of 2008 I received a desperate plea from a friend to help re-locate a toothless mastiff named Simmons who was facing being turned in to Miami-Dade Animal Control. This would likely have meant death for Simmons. In case you are wondering, Simmons had been on a medication as a puppy that caused all of his teeth to rot away. With no teeth to hold his tongue in, it is permanently hanging out of his mouth!

Back to the story…so, I contacted everyone I knew and asked how we could band together for this sweet boy. Miracles happen when a small but dedicated group of people come together for a common goal! A mastiff rescue in Pennsylvania stepped forward to foster Simmons until a permanent home could be found. Now the REAL challenge: how on earth would we get him up there?! Once again, dedication, commitment and compassion paid off. A rescue transport group came forward and agreed to arrange a free transport for him from Miami to Pennsylvania. Each transporter drove an hour long leg up the east coast and then drove back down to their original starting spot. My sister Christina and I drove the second leg of transport and Simmons eventually made it to his foster home.

I received an update a couple of weeks ago about what Simmons has been up to. I hope this is as touching for you to read as it was for me. It just goes to show you what great things even a small group of people can accomplish and the miracles that lie in store for us when we live our lives with compassion and love.

The Update from Simmons’ ‘Mom’…

“Last week I had to run some antibiotics back over to the personal care home where I work, for a co-worker whose dog was ill. I decided to take Simmons along for the ride and let him visit the residents on the Dementia floor where I work.

This is a picture of Bob with Simmons. Bob has terminal cancer. He has no family that comes in to visit him. Bob is a gifted musician, former pilot, and was in the service. His whole life was packed away in boxes when he came to the home. No one even bothered to unpack any of his belongings. I waited until he went to an activity and I decorated his room with all of his personal items and had polka playing when he came back. He told me that he played the accordion on the cd that was playing.

Bob very rarely talks, very rarely smiles and most of the time sits alone in his room. He was sleeping on his bed when I called to him from out in the hallway and told him that I had someone who wanted to meet him. He sat straight up in bed with a huge grin the minute that he saw Simmons and called him into his room. Bob smiled and laughed for the next 40 minutes!!

Every time that I tried to leave, Simmons would lay back down on the floor next to Bob to have his belly rubbed! Bob kept repeating...."Simmons, my big baby! Yes, you’re a big baby!!", petting him the whole time. I got a feeling that Simmons will be making more trips in the future to the home.”

This is what Jonah’s Place is about. Making a difference - one life at a time…to positively impact our fellow man and God’s precious creatures.


Michelle Brockman for Jonah’s Place, Inc.

P.S. You can get in on this Life-Changing action. We are in great need of partners. Please click on the link below and show that you support what we are doing…

http://jonahsplace.org/partners

2 comments:

  1. That is so sweet, I'm glad that simmons can fill that void that Bob has in his life
    Thank God for Dogs they are very special animals, they have that unconditional love for us humans , there always happy to see you they don't get mad when your late, they have more of a forgiving heart than most people . They don't care what color you are what religion, how tall , ,how short they just love you for you!

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    1. Yes, dogs are definitely a blessing! This story is just one example of why we are working towards our animal therapy program. There are a lot of hurting people in this world that can benefit greatly from that unconditional love. =)

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