Tough love beneficial? I think not. Living with Henrietta the chicken, shows the truth when it comes to matters of the heart.
When we first found Henrietta wondering in a countryside store in NJ, she seemed, broken, beaten, defeated. Through her eyes, Bojie and I saw straight to her soul, and we knew we needed to save her. She didn't speak much, or at all for that matter, when we asked her how she ended up in NJ after living the life of retirement in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Whatever it was, had hurt her deeply, to her core, and was too humiliating to divulge. We knew, after doing some research, a bit of her history: Raised on a quaint little chicken farm in America's heartland, Henrietta showed a flair for performing at an early age. As an adult, she moved to Las Vegas with dreams of fame and fortune. She quickly took the town by storm and was cast as a genuine Vegas Showgirl. During her twenty year career shes danced in numerous shows and even headlined the infamous burlesque show Wild Chicken. Unwillingly, due to body restraints, and gravity taking over, she retired, and Henrietta lived a quiet life, far from the Vegas footlights, in a swanky trailer park near Fort Lauderdale.
We immediately showered her with unconditional love. Bojie would not allow her to get to far without caressing her with his rough tongue. While doing so, he repeated over and over to her, that she is too good of a chicken to live that kind of life.
Oh, don't get me wrong, Henrietta wasn't that kind of girl...I'll never forget the wincing shrill of her screams she makes if Bojie squeezes her too hard, they mimicked those she made after she found out that Bojie had spent Christmas with another woman. A turtle no less. They'll forever ring in my ears. Sure he's "slipped" in the past, but it was a Christmas party, and someone spiked the kibble, all that he knows of that night was captured in this photo, in his right mind he'd never sway:
It's not that he ever meant to hurt her, it's just that he loves her that much. The two became inseparable, and their friendship soon blossomed into a great love affair. At first, it was difficult for me to accept, but he's my son, and she makes him happy, so I've supported them as much as I can, and always make sure that she's included in our plans. She's come on trips with us all over the country, and to be honest, she's really grown on me. She's also grown emotionally. By leaps and bounds. From an emotionally scarred chicken, to a hen of entitlement, one of sass. She'd totally look people straight in the eye, if she still had hers...which, leads me to the point of my story....
Henrietta felt that she had to keep improving her looks for Bojie. As he was growing into a more handsome, debonair dog, her body began failing her. All the love he was showing her, really took its toll, and she felt no other option than to enter the tainted world of plastic surgery.
Exhibit A: The difference 3 years can make:
In her three years here, Henrietta has received, a brow lift, a combectomy, multiple beak injections which resulted in a beakectomy, a wattleectomy, and thryoidectomy. These multiple surgeries, resulted in a complete decapitation, which I had to perform on an emergent basis at home. Thank God for my medical background. I've managed to save her voice box, and her large talons are still intact. I know she has plans for other augmentations in the future. Bojie and I have been working desperately to stop this obsession before it's too late.
When I attempted to interview Bojie on his opinion of Henriettas obsession which has rapidly turned into her demise, he just turned, looked away, and said, "I love my chick unconditionally. As for my stand on plastic surgery, no comment."
