Come True
Thanks for all the well wishes for Boomer...
He's still missing.
I have hopes still that he'll turn up.
I thought about posting a pic of him tonight... but it felt more like a memorial... and I refuse that answer for now.
When I was in middle school I had a black and white cat named Serena. She disappeared and I hunted and hunted and hunted for her. Months passed. One evening I was sitting at the dining table with my dad and looked out the sliding glass doors... and there she sat. Plain as day. I about knocked over my chair getting up and out the door to her. She was in rough shape. Travel worn. Thin. Dirty in an angled way... as if she had swam a dirty river. Previous to her disappearance she'd had some mammary tumors removed... and they were back... more this time. We decided we'd feed her up, get her healthy, and then take her in again to have them removed. Five days later, we were sitting at the dining table again having tacos. Funny how I remember that. I took my last bite and my dad cleared his throat. "I have some bad news." I glanced at him, saw his expression, and swallowed hard. "Serena fell asleep in the garage and she died in her sleep. When you're ready, we'll bury her in the yard. She came all the way home from wherever she was so she could die here with you. If she wanted to be here that bad, we'll grant her that wish."
Cooper was a merle Aussie we had 25 years ago. He was a hell of a working cowdog. He disappeared twice. The first time was in winter... and I was scared he had been caught in some coyote trap. Come to find out, a distant neighbor had been using him to put his bulls in the corral at night... and he was such good help... he never tried to find out who he belonged to! Closer neighbors knew Cooper. If they were trailing down the road and Cooper heard them... he'd go help. They'd bring him back when they got a chance. One summer he disappeared for months. I just knew he was dead. When we pieced his story together later, there was only one missing link. How does a dog end up 30 miles away, on top of the mountain? He appeared at Meadowlark Resort and stayed by the entranceway... waiting, it seemed, for someone to pick him up. The people there called "Becky"... a semi-reclusive woman known as being a little "different". OK. A lot "different". She really smelled. OK. She reeked. Probably the lack of bathing had something to do with it. Plus she had six or seven dogs already. Why those people offered Cooper to her, I don't know... but she gladly took him. She'd had him 3 months or so when a neighbor happened to spy Cooper in the humongous station wagon Becky drove. Becky wasn't thrilled with the idea of giving him up, but she did. She often called to check on him and visit with me. I remember having to give him multiple baths to make him smell "canine" again.
Custer disappeared for two days after he got into a fight with coyotes. His ribs hurt so bad he could hardly move when I found him. I managed to load him up in the floorboard of my Jeep easily enough... unloading him was going to be a different story. I couldn't touch any part of him that wasn't sore. I finally resorted to "SSSSHHHHHH! Get up, you cows! Ho, cows! HO!" Trusty cowdog that he was, if there were cows to move, he was going to help. He staggered out of my Jeep, ready to do battle with cows. I patted him on the head, and led him into my house.
Lucas has disappeared on me three times. Once he was locked in the granary by accident. The other two times, he's been sick. Each time we've been separated only a few hours... and my panic mode kicks in fast. I've shed plenty of tears for Lucas... but he has a tight grip on my heart.
Dally was lost overnight on New Year's Eve a year ago. She found her way home from the Mills place where she had run off chasing a deer. I cried for her too.
Serena, Cooper, Custer, Lucas, and Dally have all returned in their ways and times.
I'm hoping that will come true for Boomer.
I've cried for Boomer.
Thanks, got up with time on my hands so I check you out. Now my day is going to be all about my lost or loved ones. If there is any consolation, Vaquera brings me a ball or baby to play with at least every 2 hours. She is hooked.
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*hugs* We'll keep hoping for Boomer.
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Carol, I've been a reader for a while - love this blog. I have 2 aussies myself - one is a deaf rescue. Here's an "encouragement story:"
Years ago, my sheltie Rosie bolted while off leash on a canyon hike. It was as if she vanished into the air. I searched for her everywhere - fliers, shelters, newspaper ads, etc. She had tags. I finally assumed that someone decided to keep my beautiful dog and gave up looking.
5 months after Rosie disappeared, and 1 week before my wedding, I got a phone call. A kind woman who lived at the end of the canyon had been feeding Rosie for months but she would never allow herself to be touched. Until that day, when the woman was able to pet her, read her tags and call me.
Oh, how my (now) husband and I flew down there! The minute Rosie saw me, she jumped into my arms and I swear she tried to melt into me. Of course, it was mutual
And, as these things go, Rosie was VERY pregnant. She had 5 lab-cross (we think) puppies a few days later. She waited until I came home from work, greeted me at the door, pushed her nose between my knees, gave a huge groan, and popped that first pup out. The puppies and the story were a huge hit with the wedding guests. That dog never left my side again.
I hope you get good news about Boomer.
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Ketra! That's a wonderful story. Thanks so much for sharing! What a wedding present... and the birthing, oh, my! That's definitely a classic!
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Still holding Boomer in my prayers. I've got a similar litany about lost pets that showed up later.
My MIL,may she rest in peace, never allowed any pets because she said it hurt too bad when they were gone. Well, yeah, that hurts, whether they are passed on, or just missing, but she also never got their love. One more thing I didn't understand about that woman.
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Dangit... not s'posed to make me cry in the library!! lol Read on that he's home. Thank God!
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