“A friend sent a picture of the cat to our group for parents of children with cleft palates last week. This cat was taken in by an animal rescue group in Minnesota. We had a strong feeling that this cat should live with us. He has a cleft lip and full heterochromia iridum, like our 7-year-old son Madden. They just had to be best friends. It’s funny how having a pet can make you feel like you’re not alone.
When a part of the iris has more than one colour, this is called heterochromia iridum. Total heterochromia iridum, in which the eyes are all different colours, is a rare condition affecting less than 1% of the general population. This is very rare, just like cleft lips.
Friends of ours were kind enough to help pay for a road trip so we could adopt this cute cat in Minnesota and bring him home to Oklahoma.
We’re not usually hasty, but we were sure we were supposed to love this cat. Moon and Madden become perfect friends with each other. We will choose to look for love in a world full of bullies and mean words. I think it’s fair to say that Madden and I were told to travel together and that this cat symbolises love.
I can’t believe how well everything worked out. Even though it seems crazy, these two were meant to be together. There’s no other reason for it. This cat was so far away from us. I’m amazed that we found out about him, and I’m even more surprised that friends and people we didn’t know helped us meet him and take him in. Everyone needs a friend and wants to be understood. I’m glad Moon is around for Madden. I hope Moon teaches Madden that being different is fantastic and that he is magic. I also hope Moon gives Madden and the cat a cute friend who is easy to understand. It’s a miracle that these two good-looking men look so much alike.
I didn’t want to bring attention to our family, but if anything happens, I hope it helps kids with cleft lips, even if it’s just to raise awareness.
After getting picked on the school bus, Madden became famous for his anti-bullying movie that praised his oddities. Now that he has a great four-legged friend, he can talk about how different they are and how that makes them unique.
“Be nice to people who are not like you. In the video, he brags that we’ve already been through many hard things.” Treat everyone well! If you’re rude to them, you’ll miss out on meeting many great people. Be nice to the person who is treating you poorly. Because the people who don’t deserve love need it the most.
Madden’s mother told Love What Matters that the bullying “broke his spirit” at the time, but she hopes that Moon will help her son feel better about himself.
“Some students were talking to him very nasty and meanly. His spirit was severely broken, which was a challenging year for him. The only thing we can do is change how we think about bullies and how they make us feel. Bullying still happens every now and then. We’ll probably always run into someone rude, which is a shame. It will always sting and hurt, but since we can’t change how other people act, all we can do is try to change how we see things.
We’re not perfect, just like everyone else. Still, we’ll always do our best to be kind to others, even when we’re fighting a formidable opponent or when being kind seems like the last thing we want to do in a tricky situation. I want Madden and our other two sons to grow up to be kind, good people.
This story came from Oklahoma. It was written by Christina Humphreys.
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