Our Dog: Bella

I had been putting off posting about something that happened last week because I didn't want to really acknowledge it, but now that I actually have good news to share I'll let you know what happened.

Last Monday evening, March 1st, Bella went missing. When I was putting the kids to bed I noticed that Bella wasn't around and I asked the kids where she was and they didn't know. I searched the house, calling everywhere. I even checked inside the van to see if she got locked inside, but she wasn't there. I cried and cried. Our neighbor works for the local animal shelter so I called and left a message for her hoping that someone would have turned Bella into them over night. When she called me the next morning and told me that they didn't have her I was heartbroken. She took all my information and told me to call another local shelter which I did, but had no luck there either. The next day I printed out 10 flyers with her picture on it and my phone number hoping that someone would see the sign and call us. I spent the entire week just staring out the window hoping to see her coming home. I was having dreams about her and so were my sister and Letty. Every time I would hear a little jingle I would think that it was her, because she has a little bell on her collar. Our weather has been pretty rainy the last week and almost all of my flyers were gone from the wind and rain. I wasn't quite ready to give up yet and I planned on making more flyers tomorrow and re-posting them. I got a phone call this morning from the other shelter asking me what she looked like, because they had found a dog but the dog they found was black and white. It wasn't Bella. Then this evening I got a phone call from a guy saying that he found her, that he had seen my flyer. I was in disbelief. I asked him if she had a bell on her collar and he said, yeah, it's your dog. He gave me his address and told me that he wasn't there but that his roommate was and that I could go pick her up. His house was just down the street and around the corner. The Monday that she went missing I had gone to see a house that was for sale that was around the corner. She must have tried to follow me and when she couldn't find me she got lost. When I got to the house and the roommate opened the door Bella came running out right into my arms. The guy's roommate was the sweetest little old man. He said that he was going to miss Bella because she is such a good dog. He had three other little dogs in his house too. I told him that my husband worked for Red Robin and that if he ever makes it in there to tell him who he is and I'm sure my husband would take care of him. He told me that he doesn't get out much because he's dying of bone cancer and it's very painful. I couldn't thank him enough. We were so excited to have Bella back. When I got home and told Dan about the guy he told me that I should make him dinner. I think that's a great idea and that's what I'm going to do tomorrow. I think I'll throw in a few cookies as well. It's only been a few hours and it's already been so wonderful to have Bella back. We just love this little dog so much and I really think she loves us back.