I Don't Have Words

Yesterday our precious fur child Lily got out of the house. She is a smart girl and can open flip handle doors even the ones that open in. She has never tried the front door before. I'm not sure if she opened it or if we didn't get it shut tight. In the end, what difference does it make. She got out and ran. I went out to try to track her down. She ran to the neighbor's and kept going. In order to understand completely you need to have an idea where we live. When you cross the fence 75 feet to the east of our house the next fence to the east is at least 1.5 miles away. The fence to the south is over 1.25 miles. We are dealing with an area of almost 2 square miles and a dog that LOVES to run. I don't know exactly what she scared up but I suspect it was a deer. I never saw her after she left the house. I heard her bark a few times the last time about 2 hours later about 3 miles from the house. I drove about 100 miles looking for her. Windows down, cold air blowing in and yelling out the windows. Hours of searching and yelling and yes, crying. I gave up at dark. We had posted on Facebook, with the local Humane Society, and it was shared hundreds of times by friends and people we didn't know and never met. We got a call this morning that a nice family about 10 miles from us had picked her up about 5:30 yesterday afternoon. They had kept her fed, warm and safe on a cold, rainy, windy night. She was not out alone in the night hiding from coyotes. She was safe and warm sleeping by their bed. 

I said all that to say this. We watch the news and we see and hear all the terrible things going on in the world. We hear candidates for president say terrible things about minorities, gays and immigrants. It hardens our hearts. It makes us wonder about our fellow citizens. Today reminded me of something that had been slipping away in my mind. The goodness of my fellow citizens. That there are, every day, good people out there in the world. People who see a scared, lost, lonely animal along the road and reach out to care for her. No thought of reward. No concern other than to care for someone who has a need. The returned our beloved Lily to us. Equally important, they restored my faith in the goodness of my fellow man. We can never thank the King family enough for what they did for Lily and by doing so, for us.