So, where is he?

Today was a day of both sorrow and joy.

Buddy is our male dog. He is 14 years old and mostly blind and deaf. Somehow, he got out of the backyard. Hence the source of our sorrow.

Fortunately, Buddy is chipped. Unfortunately, we didn't have the chip number. (We do now!) Mommy tried to reach the vet where he had been chipped and they were having a staff meeting. She contacted the local animal shelter, which, oddly enough, was not listed in the phone book. We asked our next door neighbor and she remembered seeing a black and white dog across the street and heading north. So, off we trekked around the neighborhood to see if we could find our lost boy.

After a half hour of searching, we had no luck. So, at home, we made posters with Buddy's picture and our contact number to put up around the area. When we exited our home, our next door neighbor's son asked if we had found him yet. Caleb is a really good kid and was genuinely interested. He said he would check with his friends around the neighborhood to see if they found him.

We jumped in the van and started placing signs. Just after placing the first poster, we met another neighbor who said she also saw him heading in the same direction. That was our heading for placing signs. We traveled another 1/2 mile through the houses when we spotted Caleb. He had found Buddy. He rode his bike along every side street in order to try to find him. What a blessing it is to have Caleb as our neighbor. Even in the midst of dispair, God's mercy is present.

The ending of the story is that Buddy is home with us again and is none the worse for wear. He was missing for about 2 1/2 hours. We have secured the gate to the yard with some bungie cords so it cannot be pushed open by him, again. His return is the source of our joy.