Boo's Buddy

I have a high IQ. I can't be considered bragging when I say this because truly, I have nothing to do with it. God blessed me with this when I was born...most probably to help me to rationalize all the emotional crap that I've seen in my life. But hey, that is a way different story.

The reason I mention my IQ is to help put into perspective when I say my daughter isn't all that smart. She is at least average smart and probably a bit above average. But to me, she's not that smart. No biggie really because what she lacks in brains she more than makes up for in compassion. I value that more any way. So this story (taking me long enough to get here) is a prime example of who my daughter is.

My phone rang at 10:55 p.m. last night. It was Boo calling. My first inclination was she was calling with some pathetic excuse as to why she was going to miss curfew. But when she said "Mommy" there was fear and panic in her voice. It was one of those calls that makes my heart leap. She immediately told me she was on route 103. My heart started racing thinking she had an accident. Then she said there was a dog in the middle of the road and she was stopping.

Of course this didn't cause the gymnastics going on in my stomach to cease. I immediately thought the dog was hurt or dead. Or maybe that traffic was bad and she might end up run over. I told her I wasn't sure this was a wise idea and she needed to be careful. She responded that she couldn’t just leave it there. I had no argument because she was right. She couldn't.

A moment later she says, “He just jumped into my car! What am I supposed to do now?” That is so like my daughter. She doesn’t think one step ahead. Now she has this, per her description, “short, I mean really short legs, shorter than Mitsi, fat, hairy, panting like crazy and slobbering all over the place” dog in her car.

She says, “Okay I pulled into the Dunkin Donuts parking lot but don’t know what to do now. He won’t get out of my car.” I tell her to look for a thing on the dog’s collar. So she does and finds out his name is Buddy. Then she sees a phone number. So I tell her to call them and let them know she has Buddy.

Turns out the guy didn’t even know he was gone, said he never escaped before. He said he’d come get him. So then Britt calls me back all freaked out because this guy is coming to pick up the dog and that seems "so very sketchy" to her. I tell her I'll stay on the phone with her and everything will be fine. Of course, I'm thinking all the bad things that could happen.

I was relieved it didn't take long for her to say, "Oh there is a car. That's him pulling in now." I can hear the guy saying, “thank you so much." Then Boo says to him, "He's in my car and doesn't seem to want to get out." Then, I hear the guy calling, "Buddy, come one. Buddy! Buddy, come on! Buddy! Buddy, Let’s go! Buddy, (sigh), let’s go home Buddy, come on! …Thanks again.”

She gets back on the phone saying, “That was freaky. The dog didn't want to get out of the car. And, this guy was like... older. Then he gave me this side hug thing. That was just SO weird." I'm not sure what she was expecting. But I asked if she was okay and back in her car. She said yes but her car was all gross because Buddy's slobber was everywhere. I said okay and we hung up.

When she got home, she needed to tell me all about it. She said when she first spotted Buddy he was running full speed (for a short little dog) down the middle of the road. She said there were cars everywhere. I’m guessing he had gotten out and was just freaked out when he saw the traffic. She said she knew she had to stop and get him because "like we would want someone to stop and help if one of our dogs had gotten out." Then she said, "I didn't really know what I was going to do if that guy didn't answer his phone or the dog didn't have a tag. I don't know what I would have done. I didn't really think that far. I didn't really think. But I coudn't just leave him there. You know?"

I told her, "It's okay. Sometimes it's better to feel instead of think." But hey, don't quote me on that!