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Lucy is a Golden Retriever, who has appeared suddenly and after much prayer on my part for a stray animal to appear for us to take in. (So you understand my stray animal prayer: Our dog passed away in January of 2020 and we miss having our beautiful Tessa, the Labradoodle with us.) We aren't really ready to get a new dog, so I put a half serious, half wishful thinking/prayer out into the Universe for a stray to appear, LOL.
Episode 1:
So it appears I've been met half-way with this request. In pure "we see what we want to see" fashion, Lucy appeared. Instantly in my mind, I was like "Oh wow! A Stray,....stray, mine, mine" and her tag indicated she's trudged over six miles of ground to find me/us randomly. Right?!?! The world has answered my request.
We love her, but see the tag and call the number of her tag. They come and get her. The guy looks a little pissed, as the dog knows she is loved but in trouble and that ends Episode 1. We know she is happy in her minivan with her kids and all is well.
Episode 2:
Episode 2, which involves me and us all slightly wishing/praying she will return, does indeed find her returning with her black nose smooshed up against our back window and very very happy to see us. I'm saying to myself, "My goodness we are incredible people and she has yet trudged another 6 miles to find us."
This time around, we wait to call that number on the tag and invite her in. I open the door to the basement to let her downstairs and hear the boys erupt with "LUCY!! SHE'S BACK..." and like a herd they rushed up from the basement. The boys all in their 20s, take her outside and start playing frisbee. She joins us for some pepperoni pizza. We all hang out, she loves tummy rubs, and we decide it's probably time to call the owners.
The owner arrived and we are just stunned at the six miles this dog has gone. Reality is, we have new neighbors, who are a few houses away through the woods. While Lucy did find us rather quite randomly and most likely due to the scent of a barbeque, she does in fact have quite a cool family and they are close by. That was episode 2.
Episode 3:
So Episode 3 finds us all going about our merry way in our backyard pool and suddenly a golden retriever comes running into the yard and leaps into the pool with us. She swims to me. She licks my face and then swims to my husband and licks his face. She swims to the side, shakes off and jumps back in. We are rolling. Lucy is back.
Oh how I want this dog to just stay with us!! I get out and go get as many of our boys as I can find and tell them to bring their phones. Out comes Cam. He takes his socks off to sit in the pool with Lucy. She runs off with his socks and a game of fetch the sock in the pool ensues. Laughter, smiles and one very very wet Golden Retriever greet two ladies at our pool gate. They arrive and say "There she is, oh my gosh, we're so sorry! We are babysitting and the dog got loose. The owners left a note that if the dog gets loose, she is probably at your house."
So, we haven't seen Lucy in about a week or so, and that is ok. She's better safe than running around, I'm sure. We all feel a little more healed for having met her and the good news is, we know where she lives. We may drop dog treats off and just surprise her with a visit from us!
About Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino is the founder of The Best Ever You Network and co-founder of Compliance4. Through these companies, she has helped individuals and organizations around the world be their best and achieve world-class excellence with gratitude-based behavior and belief systems. She is one of America's foremost personal and corporate development consultants specializing in mindset, strategy, leadership, and taking action.
Elizabeth is also the author of the award-winning personal development book PERCOLATE - Let Your Best Self Filter Through (Hay House) and The Change Guidebook - How to Align Your Heart, Truths, and Energy to Find Success in All Areas of Your Life (March 2022, HCI Books) and multiple children’s books as a contributor and author. Elizabeth and her husband live in Maine with their four sons and three rescued cats.