Amazing Grace is a song we are all very familiar with. The line "I was lost, but now I'm found..." can possess so many different meanings to the listener, the new believer, the seeker, the traveler and the pet owner. Pet Owner? How so? Well this time of year for some strange reason, hosts a number of missing animal posts, broken hearts desperately searching for their beloved pets that uncharacteristically take off without so much as a "See ya later".. Perhaps it's the warm summer breezes, the stirring of enticing wildlife, the desire to take a swim, the instinct to hunt or the pure lust for adventure. Be that as it may, the phone keeps ringing, the texts keep coming, the posts on social media are sometimes too numerous to count.
At Mountain Haven when we get the call or text that a Mountain Haven alumni has gone missing, our hearts sink. We feel the despair and the heartache of the person on the other end of the line. And, we feel helpless. When we feel helpless is when we have to run on blind faith. Faith that the little traveler will stay safe and determined on the journey back to loving arms. It can take hours, days, or even weeks. The only sure thing is that it is an emotional roller coaster. filled with tears, sleepless nights and the constant fight against worst case scenario thoughts.
Before you go grabbing the tissues, lets switch the focus to "found" because I have some great stories to tell in this regard. You see in the past few weeks we have experienced two Mountain Haven alumni that have gone missing. Both of these dogs have a monumental bond to their humans. One came back within 24 hours which was a huge sigh of relief, the other was missing for eighteen days. Yep, not a typo..eighteen days! At this point many would give up hope. You would think that working in rescue would desensitize you in some way to this, but it does not. Not one bit. Quite the opposite. I reflect quietly to myself about other situations where dogs have traveled far and wide to make it back. Just last week I was driving along listening to my favorite station on Sirius XM when they told a feel good story about a dog that made a sixty mile journey back to his old home after he and his family had moved to a new home. Guess he wasn't ready to move. Luckily the new homeowners had contacted the dogs owner and they were reunited. All I thought to myself was, I am not giving up, maybe this little missing dog will make it home by some miracle, even if it has been over two weeks. To add another layer to this, the dog missing for 18 days belongs to a friend of ours.
Every day when my husband came home from work he would ask, "Any news about the little white dog?", and everyday I had the same answer, "Nope, not yet". Then a few nights ago Marc and I were watching television and my text chime went off. It was my friend, the owner of the missing little dog with the best text I could have hoped for. She was found!!!!
Without going into too many details of the entire situation (that is my friend's story to tell), I will summarize by saying this. Never, ever lose hope. Hope can be like a silent super power of sorts. And who wouldn't want a super power? Yes, you guessed it, I have been binge watching Marvel movies lately. And although this "little white dog" is sporting a cone instead of a cape or magic cloak, she is a superhero in her own right. She defied the odds, she was found, she is surviving and getting better and stronger each and every day, and as for her person, my friend? Well it takes one to know one, she is a survivor too....like mother, like pup?
Yup.
xoxo - Janine
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