 In order to tell this story I must start from the beginning…..A little over a year ago I had to have my best friend and faithful companion Maggie put to sleep…..She was a 15 year old Lhaso Apso and had been diagnosed with colon cancer….there was no way I was going to subject her to painful surgery and treatment so I made the very difficult decision to say good bye and let her leave this world having led a wonderful life…..As you can imagine this was very painful and something I swore I would never go through again so….this meant it was just CoCo and me….CoCo is my 10 year old Himalayan….not as easy as you may think…..I was very lonesome for Maggie….I hated coming home having no poochie to greet me….many tears were shed for many months…..I finally realized I did not want to live without a dog so….the search was on….a friend of mine from work, Theresa Finch told me about a rescue organization called Last Hope….everyday I would search their website for a small female dog….It was difficult reading the stories of abuse and abandonment….how could people be so cruel….I submitted several applications for several dogs….but never got a call…..but then in early August I was contacted and told there was a small 2 year old female Shih Tzu mix looking for a home…..I called and learned all about Tasha…..I was told she was surrendered as her original owner was placed in a nursing home, the original owner’s daughter was not able to keep her as she did not have time to care for her and the granddaughters were not responsible…..So……I adopted her…..The poor little thing had been moved around from home to home and then spent time with her foster family until she came to live with me….the week before I adopted her she was also spayed……too much stress for anyone…..My sister and I drove from Plymouth to Cottage Grove to get her….it was love at first sight….she was very reluctant to leave her foster mom….the rest of my family met her after I arrived home…..she was very stand-offish…..especially around men….Tasha met CoCo…..neither was impressed with the other….she went on check out her new home….lots to sniff…. about 3 hours after arriving home I decided to take her for a walk…..I attempted to put her leash on the collar I was given…..it all happened so fast…..I opened the patio door and out she went pulling her head right out of the leash……I panicked….then called my parents as well as my sister and her family and told them she was gone…..we spent several hours looking for her….I had called the police….in case someone found her…..then I called everyone I knew and asked for prayers for her safe return….I was crying so hard I could hardly see where I was driving….I felt so sorry of her…..after what she had been through and now this…..We encountered several large dogs and fox while looking for her…..what chance did she have…besides the animals we encounterd I live very close to several busy streets…..I was so upset and kept asking God why….why after looking for months and then finding this sweet little girl did this have to happen…..after 3 hours or so we stopped looking…..I kept praying and crying and kept thinking she was out there someplace lost, afraid, hurt or worst of all dead…..then I decided to start praying differently…..I started thanking God for sending her home and said I knew she would be back within the hour…..50 minutes later I got a call from a Plymouth Community Service officer asking me to come outside and see if the dog he picked up was mine…..there she was in all her glory…..talk about miracles….unfortunately she had bitten someone and needed to be quarantined for 10 days….the person she bit was an adult female who tried to pick her up thinking she was her dog……because she had gotten away I was ticketed $120.00 for having a dog at large….this turned into a very expensive adoption…..with the adoption fee, $120.00 ticket and then I was going to have to pay $250.00 to have her quarantined…..the officer took pity on me and allowed me to quarantine her at home…..I called my family to let them know Tasha had returned……I told my mom it was only by the grace of God that she was returned to me….ah ha…..Grace….Amazing Grace…once was lost and now is found…..Tasha had a new name…..Unfortunately this whole ordeal set her back in my relationship with her….besides being full of burrs, grease and mud she would not come near me upon her return….it took 3 days for her to come to me….that was a little less than 3 months ago and now she has become my Velcro dog….ever at my side…..eager to snuggles and give kisses…..she sleeps on my pillow with me at night…..I can’t imagine life without my little Gracie……..So believe in miracles…..I did and look what happened……
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