Carolina, please come home soon!

Who knew that spending a casual Saturday with family would turn into such a nightmare.

Chancho and I spent the morning together, we picked up Big Bertha (his motorcycle) out of storage so he can enjoy his last summer with her. From there we scooted on up to Connecticut for some family time. On the way there, my sister informed me that she wouldn't be joining us because her husband's grandmother was in the hospital and it wasn't looking good, they didn't give her until the evening hours. It was really unfortunate to hear that news, but all we could do was keep her in our prayers.

We arrived at my ex uncle's house (my aunt divorced him, but is now dating him again), ate a few munchies, drank a few drinks and then the Easter egg hunt began. All the cousins grabbed a basket and headed out into the yard. We had the boundaries set to the front of the house, driveway to the woods and front of the house to the road. Off we went scrambling into the yard. There were 100 eggs to be found. All of them were filled with chocolate, however some had Susan B. Anthony coins and others had notes in them meaning that you won a prize. It got a little violent, as my cousins are pretty competitive, but no one got hurt. I sadly found only 9 eggs. I wasn't trying all that hard, I was really just watching it all go down and laughing. Here we are all grown and searching/pushing each other out of the way for a plastic egg! It was fun, but something that I could have done without. My brother arrived with his wife and dogs just as the Easter egg hunt was finishing up. The ladies filed into the kitchen to cook, while the men stood out on the porch chatting and drinking. A few cousins played croquet. Dinner commenced. We had a great lamb, lasagna, potatoes, broccoli, corn, deviled eggs, and a whole bunch of other items, that couldn't fit on my plate or into my stomach. The evening continued, as I received a text message from my sister informing me that my brother in law's grandmother did indeed pass away just then. I passed the news around and everyone was happy to hear that she was able to see her family before she passed on. It must have been comforting in a tiny way that they were able to make it to her bedside before it was too late.

Then as we were all gathered around the kitchen counters eating dessert and taking shots of licorice liquor, my brother came sprinting inside yelling that his dog had run off! All at once everyone jumped up and two of my cousins grabbed their car keys each of them yelling which direction to take. "I'll go East! You go West!" They both had grown up in the area and are very familiar with the roads and land. Apparently, as my brother was walking both of the dogs, the largest one, Carolina, who is a fox hound got a whiff of a deer and bolted. She took off so quickly that she ripped the leash right out of my brothers hand. He had no option but to drop the other leash to the smaller dog, Bailey, who is a beagle, and sprinted after Carolina. She was too fast that he had to come back to get help. Unfortunately, the sun had just gone down and the house is surrounded by dense woods. The family was out searching frantically for a good hour, but they came back empty handed. In the time that they all left the house in a frenzy, my ex uncle's son had disappeared, he is only 12 I believe, and he was no where in the house. They started calling around and the last time that anyone saw him was walking towards the road. Turns out that he wanted to go with his older brothers and tried to chase after them as they drove away. They found him walking the street. Then my dad decided that it would be a good idea to take Bailey out to try and find Carolina, thinking that Bailey would sniff her way to her. However, they had Bailey on a short leash, so short that you have to arch your back a bit walk her. Bailey was doing fine until she realized that she was too far from her mommy and daddy and bolted off towards the house. She had my dad running full force back to the house. If only I was able to see that image! He came back in the house panting and yelling "She tried to kill me!" Everyone was so concerned about Bailey, they got her a bowl of water, made sure she was okay and my dad goes "What about me?? I just had to run a marathon to keep up with her and my back is probably broken now!" Oh, it was priceless. He spent the next hour hunched over and limping, trying to get sympathy. It wasn't working as everyone's minds were still on the missing Carolina.

Chancho called up the local police department to see what they could do for them, knowing they wouldn't be able to do much; just keep their eyes open, but it was comforting to my brother and his wife. It was the first time that I had seen my brother cry and I mean really cry. My heart aches for them. I wish there was something that I could do for them, but the outlook doesn't look great at all. Carolina is lost in a wooded area filled with coyotes, on a leash that is attached to a choke collar and she doesn't know where "home" is. The only thing that is going for her is that before my brother and his wife took her in, she was a wild dog, roaming the woods so this isn't something too new for her, she knows how to survive on her own. I just hope that she can find her way back to the house or someone finds her before something unwanted does.

The beautiful Carolina. I hope she comes home quickly, safely and soon!