How he came back in our life:
If you are friends with me on Facebook you have probably seen this whole journey come to life. It was a shocking event, and we really didn't expect it to happen to us ever. We were middle of getting ready to move when an email in my old email account caught my eye.
My old inbox is generally full of spam I swim through and delete, you know the account you simply use when needing an email for something to get a coupon etc..Well one of the Subject lines read We have Huck.
Huck? I haven't seen that name in 5 years, could this be actually a legit email or a weird coincidence? So I opened it up with major curiosity!! And there he was his handsome albeit graying little face.
I was shocked and immediately had Dustin come look, my baby was in a shelter in Texas :(
How we were separated from Huck:
In 2012 we were all gears ahead to move to Germany from Hawaii, I was 36 week pregnant with our first daughter, but our doctor told us we were good to fly. So we had our whole house already on its way across country, and we sitting in a hotel with just our suitcases and our pup!! He had his dr certificate, and kennel all labeled and ready. That is when it happened, we got the call from the airline that our flight had gotten pushed back. We were taking a civilian flight stateside, and there were no pet spots. They gave us the option to wait a week and get a pet flight. But my doctor said, you go now or you are staying here to have that baby.
I was so heart broken, it was either fly to Germany with Dustin and have our first baby together, but leave Huck in Hawaii or stay in Hawaii alone with none of our stuff so we could keep Huck!!
Obviously the choice had to be made and I wasn't going to have and raise a baby alone for the hardest first weeks, without any of our stuff. I cried all night knowing we were going to have find my battle buddy a new home right as we were leaving the island. We found a family willing to take him, and said a teary-eyed goodbye as we drove away from him in a gas station parking lot.
Heart Broken doesn't describe it, I can remember how emotional and sad I was. But we made out trip and the family never contacted us again.
Five years Later:
After the initial shock of reading the email had worn off. I wrote them back saying we indeed did know that sweet pup they had in their custody. Dustin looked up the family we had given him to see where they were and if they were aware that Huck was in the shelter. (How after 5 years and a flight stateside does one not change the registration on the Chip to their contact information?)
They had moved to Colorado, he had gotten out before they moved, and they couldn't find him. So they moved and from the lack of interest when mentioned to them, weren't' concerned about getting him back.
So I asked Dustin what he thought about trying to bring him home so he could live out the last of his life with us! I was so excited and Surprised when he said Okay lets do it.
So we took to social media to see if we knew anyone near where he was to make his trip home possible!! We were soon connected with this amazing guy Anthony!! He works with two different programs that helps find foster families, re-homing babies and apparently reuniting long lost family members!! Without all his help it wouldn't have ever been possible.
His Journey Home:
After finding Anthony, he helped guide us through the process with the shelter to allow him to be picked up and taken from the kennel with Anthony. It was so much easier than expected and since we technically gave him up to the shelter he was cleared to be released to Anthony. From there he was taken to an amazing boarding kennel in El Paso. Howl-a-Day Inn!! The amazing staff were delighted to spend time with our well mannered pup!! He was so loved, she couldn't even bare to charge us for his near 2 week stay!! We are overly thankful for her kindness.
This was when we met Ron, he is the kind soul willing to do all the crazy running around it takes to prepare a dog for a cross-country flight. He took him to the vet, picked up his kennel, took him to the airline, and even gave him some love the day before his flight.
We hit our only major snag when the first airline out of El Paso decided to refund our money as it was too hot to fly him and they didn't have a/c cargo. However we were able to find him another flight with a cheaper airline for just a few days later.
Finally he was homeward bound!! We were so excited to know he was going to be home. The kids could hardly wait to meet him.
Now:
It has been nearly a week since he came home to us!! We are overjoyed everyday to have his calm and happy spirit in our house. His tail never stops wagging and he loves nothing more than to find a nice warm sunny spot and relax all day!! He and his new sister Shade are getting along pretty well, she is a bit jealous of having to share mom's attention but most the time they just mind each others space. I think his big mellow calm personality is exactly what our high wired, and anxious little girl needs in her life.
We are blessed beyond blessed to have him back in our lives!
