God’s Opossum

 

Foreword

On April 14, 2009, I had my right foot amputated. When I was 10 years old a bully knocked me under our school bus that ran over my right foot, which would eventually lead to amputation 46 years later. But that is another story yet without it, this one would not be told.

*******

While recovering from my surgery in 2009, I was home and did PT with our new bestest pup Baxter at my side. We also had several cats, with Lexie often sitting in my wheelchair when I was on the couch. I looked forward to a future I could not have imagined, returning to running in races I thought were oncei mpossible to reach.

We had a sweet feral kitty that I fed on the front porch. I’d wheel out to the door and place food and water by a sidelight. There I could watch the kitty eat and she would often sleep in the nearby flower bed.

E.K. aka Joni Mitchell

 I should mention I named feral kitty “Joni Mitchell” but my wife was unimpressed by the moniker, so she became “E.K.” short for “Extra Kitty”. We did try to bring her into our home, but her feral ways did not suit anyone at all. She had a constant need to test gravity on fragile objects and so was returned to the great outdoor freedom. I did feel bad for her being outside but she did seem to love that life. Our climate was usually on the mild side and other neighbors looked after her as well.

 *******

One late night I went to check to see if E.K. was outside when I saw the back of a new cat at the food bowl. It finished eating and started cleaning itself, licking these delicate feet and washing over its ears. I noticed the long, hairless tail and realized that this animal was no cat at all but an opossum.

I have to admit before now I found possums rather, uh, distasteful. Okay, really ugly and disgusting. But here on my porch a transformation happened and it happened to me. This animal was really quite beautiful up close, with finely shaped features, feet looked more like infants hands, fur that was full and muted color, and a very sweet face. Small ears, delicate as porcelain.

I would come to think of “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,” and an old movie version that had deeply touched me as a child. How disfigured Quasimodo was on the outside but whose spirit was the of pure love. That beauty changes when ignorance is stripped away.

We kept our garage door cracked for E.K. although she seemed to prefer the pine straw in the flowerbeds. I soon discovered the opossum had found a corner of the garage for shelter. I really hated having to shoo it out as it was not safe with the cars coming and going. But my understanding and bond with these misunderstood creatures was growing strong.

And so I became a friend to opossums.

*******

Here in 2025 I am still running though the age of gravity has became an anchor I drag about on my runs. But I have been a runner all my life and it gives me such joy in being alive and moving free. We now live in the upstate of SC, and unlike the lowcountry where the only hills are called bridges, all of my outdoor runs are done on this rolling terrain.

On my last outside run before summer’s vengeance – I mainly run on a treadmill during these hot months – I had two animal related incidents.

I was trying to run faster this day when I came across an enthusiastic pup running out in a residential neighborhood street. It was a French bulldog, no doubt someone’s pet scampered outside to enjoy the wonders of liberty. Fortunately another runner appeared who worked with me to find the owner, who appeared about 20 minutes later looking for his fugitive. I was on the phone at the time calling animal control because I was afraid he would get run over. With that event done and the day warming, I set off for the nearby park and then the return run home.

In this run there is a low area with a drainage stream and some woods beyond where we saw wild turkeys when we first moved here. Also a raptor would perch atop a light pole and watch us pass by. As I was coming back from the park on my last mile, I came to this place. I sensed movement to my right and stopped cold.

There, struggling to walk and showing injuries even from a distance, was a baby opossum coming directly to me. As it got closer I could see a mangled tail, some cuts, and flies buzzing about as they would on something dead. The little animal was in a terrible state and I was overcome with its horrible situation.

After frantically trying to arrange help with a rehab group on Facebook, my vet gave me the number for Paws Animal Wildlife Sanctuary. Initially they wanted me to take it to another rescue organization, but when they saw a pic of the injured baby they quickly gave me directions to their facility. She (as I would come to find out) was in desperate need of help, so near her death.

I called my wife and she brought our dog’s puppy kennel and some garden gloves. I was so distraught over the condition of the baby and did my best to keep my emotions in check. I was able to get the possum into the kennel and the little animal still had some spunk, showing me those fearsome baby teeth.

I was glad to see this, thinking she might could survive beyond this day. I had studied a bit about opossums from the previous encounter and understood the behavior is almost purely defensive, but you need to respect them. They are shy creatures and just want to be left alone to live. Surely we can all understand that need.

The flies seemed desperate to make her miserable, aggressively buzzing about her injured body. I shoo them away and get the kennel in the car. We drove home, I change out of my running clothes and got on the road to Paws near Laurens, SC.

I was met there by a wonderful lady who took the baby in while I did some paperwork. We both knew the little one was in bad shape and survival might be a long road. The girl already had maggots in her ears, it was so horrible and hard to imagine her pain and distress.

Still, what if I hadn’t found her, that she approached me in her time of need at the exact moment I ran by? And why me? Could the answer be this was meant to be, not a coincidence but a design? My mind raced around, thinking how cruel nature can be and why would a creator design an existence that had such brutality and beauty.

A Desperate Situation

I don’t know. I am not a religious person, not in any traditional way. But a thought came into my mind, that this is God’s opossum, and we should care for it. Maybe this is but a simulation, that would explain much to me if not all. I do not know nor think I ever know while I live.

But this tiny creature in need came to me, and I came to the person whose calling and purpose in life was to help the helpless, the injured, the least of these. That was her calling.

God’s opossum.


“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

- Matthew 25:40

That evening the day’s events were heavy on my mind, wondering if the tiny baby would live. Our pup Stella, who almost always lies on my wife’s lap or by her side, came to lie by me. She would do this for the next several days.

*******

Nearly one month later, I took a mourning dove to Paws that was walking about our pool deck. No obvious injury but definitely something very wrong. At Paws another woman would be taking this dove and some other birds to a facility that would treat them.

While there I was able to see the little girl again and what a sweet reunion it was. That she had survived against all odds and was healing, getting stronger and bigger, was such a small miracle. She laid her head against volunteer and it was a moment filled with comfort and hope.

Curly Sue is her name. She will live with caring people for the rest of her life. Safe from harm, not released into the wild as she cannot survive on her own. There are so many stories that do not end well though they all do end.

Having one with the happiest of endings is...joy.

Curly Sue: One Month Later

Please learn more and help here:

https://www.pawssc.org/