A Friend Like Henry [antikvár]

PrologueMy husband, Jamie, and I didn't want a dog. That's not to say we didn't lilce them - I had had one myself as a child, and although Jamie wasn't used to dogs, he had nothing against them. No, we just didn't want one at the time, because we had enough responsibilities. Our young son, Dale, was locked deep inside his autistic world, terrified by every little thing, yet totally unable to communicate his fears or understand our reassurances. Every waking minute with him was a maelstrom of conflict as we plunged from one violent tantrum to the next. He didn't even know who we were, and our efforts to interact with him were deeply frustrating, completely draining and ultimately, it seemed, quite futile.Then a chance encounter with Jamie's cousin's dogs gave us a glimmer of hope . . . and so began the road to finding our puppy. Even at six weeks old, Henry stood out from the rest of the litter; but we didn't choose him, he chose Dale. Whether or not he was at that tender age able to sense our wee boy's troubles and feel he could be of assistance, I don't know. All 1 can say is that his beautiful, stoical, saintly nature was the key to unlocking a personality we never knew our son had. What happened was beyond our wildest imaginings - nothing could have prepared us for the impact on all our lives of finding a friend like Henry.IX