We left the house a little before 9am and hit our first detour. There was apparently a marathon taking place in our neighborhood and in the surrounding areas so we were re-routed. I was at first a little irritated by this, but there was a police man and a car at each intersection with the lights flashing, so BBZ thought it was about the coolest thing around. I quickly decided that I thought it was cool too, and a little detour never hurt anyone.
We got to the house where the garage sale was supposed to be and it looked oddly quiet. I checked Craig's List on my phone (thank you modern technology) and confirmed that I did in fact have the right house and the right day and decided to walk up to the house anyway.
I was greeted by a man who said that the woman decided to forget the sale because all of the streets were blocked off and no one showed up. Umm, it was only 9am! How are you just going to cancel a sale, not post the cancellation where you posted the advertisement, and before 9am!
Oh well, BBZ handled the disappointment well and we trucked off to our next destination, the doughnut shop.
We pulled into the parking lot and I noticed a few other cars at that end of the plaza. As I got closer I noticed a man go up to the door, pull the handle and walk away. We connected eyes and he made the shoulder gesture saying "I guess the place is closed?" and I looked at the "open" sign, which was not illuminated.
I said to BBZ, "I guess they're closed buddy". Tears immediately ensued. He could deal with the garage sale not coming through, but the doughnuts? That was too much for my sweet 3.5 year old.
I quickly came up with plan B, which was a local gas station that I think has better doughnuts anyway, and we headed that way. I was pleasantly surprised to see that most of the police cars were gone and the blockage from the marathon was too. BBZ hoped to see the police cars again, but they had moved on.
We did get to see a firetruck rolling down the road with its lights on on our way to the gas station, which BBZ also loved.
We got to the station and got our things. BBZ dawdled, but eventually we headed home. On our way through my neighborhood I noticed a sign for a lost dog. It was the first time I noticed it. At first glance it looked like a large white dog and I thought it was an Akita, or a similar breed. I saw another sign and slowed down long enough to read some of the details. Apparently the dog was only 20 pounds.
BBZ asked why I slowed down and I explained that someone lost their dog. He didn't understand what that meant and I tried to explain what it would be like if we lost our sweet Miss Delilah. As I was explaining this story and turning the corner into out street, I saw it.
A small, white dog with pointy ears and a curly tail crossed the street in front of me. As I turned the corner I watched this small dog wonder through my neighbor's yard and into another. I pulled into my driveway and said through the window to N that I thought I found a lost dog. Not knowing the dog's name I tried to get it to come to me, but it was not interested.
I went into the house and told N what was happening. He hadn't heard me through the window. He decided to get into his car and drive around to try and find the dog. I watched out the window for it and saw a woman driving slowly down the street. I went outside to see if she was the owner, but she drove off too soon.
I saw her again up the street and waved her down. She said that someone called her and spotted the dog, I explained that I saw it too. She said the dog had been gone a week, so she figured someone must have had her all this time. The dog's name was Haze, which I just love. N came back by then and decided to walk with her through the neighbor's yard where I last saw the dog. She was concerned about wondering through people's yard, but since N was with her, we assured her that it was fine.
N came back a while later and said they didn't find the dog. I went to run some errands and while I was gone she apparently stopped by the house to thank us for our help because she did find her dog. What a happy ending!
It was hard to describe to BBZ what it would be like to lose our sweet Delilah. It was a reality check that things do happen, and since we don't have a fence and let her out without a leash, it certainly could happen to us too.
I think coincidences are so fascinating. All of the times I felt things were taking a bit longer than they should, or felt a little irritated for things not happening exactly as I hoped, it all led up to me driving down the street at the exact time I was meant to. To help this woman find her beloved pet.
Since another neighbor saw the dog I don't think my seeing her was 100% necessary for her to be found, but it just goes to show that some things are just meant to be. That there maybe really is a plan to all of this. Maybe not to my whole life or anything, but there is peace in knowing that some things really will just work out for the best.
I sure hope someone would help us if this sweet baby girl went missing. She's our first baby after all!
