Sorry it's taken so long to respond, but I've been thinking about you and hoping everything was going ok. Sorry to hear about the bite, but I'm glad you finally went and had it looked at and are doing ok.

Now, here's my take on what happened, and I'm going to explain it using a handicapped person (hp) as an example. For those of us who don't deal with handicapped people on a daily basis, our natural reaction when we see a hp is to try and help them. We want to do whatever we can for them to try and make things easier for them and to make sure they don't hurt themselves. I think most people who have dealt with hp's will eventually learn - and I think they usually learn the hard way - is that the hp doesn't want to be helped all the time. They want to do things for themselves - even if it means making things hard on themselves, and possibly getting hurt in the process. Basically, they want to be independent and the care taker needs to learn what the hp needs help with, and what they can do on their own.

So now, how this all relates to Paddy Bear is that he was out and about and taking care of himself as best he could while was essentially blind. He did have one eye, but probably couldn't see much - if anything - out of it. So he learned to be independent and how to defend himself without seeing. He wasn't used to having someone taking care of him and trying to protect him from the world and from hurting himself. I really think he learned a lot in those days - and we have no way of knowing how long he was outside and surviving like this. Then along comes Lisa, who's heart breaks when she sees Paddy, and all she wants to do is help protect sweet Paddy from the world. She knows very little about him, but she knows he can't see. So she treats him with kid gloves to try and make the transition into her home as easy as possible for him. He finally - after weeks and weeks in a cage - gets his freedom and starts exploring his new home. He thinks to himself "Yeah, I'm free again!" And then all of a sudden he's confined again so he lashes out. It's not Lisa's fault because she is only trying to protect him and make things easier for him. But it's not Paddy's fault either, because he has no other way of letting her know that he'll be ok - he can take care of himself. I'm sure that like most hp, he appreciates her help tremendously, but he also needed to let her know that she needs to "let go" and let him "do for himself."

I sure hope I explained this well enough because it really seems to me that this is what happened. I'm just sorry this all had to happen in this way - and at this time, what with the birthday celebrations and such - but as I always say, everything always works out for the best so ultimately it should be a good thing that Paddy showed us his strength at this time and in this way. It's too bad Lisa had to take a hit like this for us to see this, but it'll all work out for the best.

Please rest and take care of yourself, Lisa, and thanks for keeping us updated on everything that is going on with our no-so-fragile Paddy Bear.