Lost & Found

Lost:

Yellow Labrador Retriever

3 years old

Affectionately called "Apple Pie" 

We arrived home from MN on Wednesday evening.  Clare asked before heading to bed, "Where is Apple Pie?"  

We searched.  And searched and searched and searched.

Finally the next day when she asked "Where's Apple Pie?" we told her that he probably fell out of the van at one of our stops on the drive home, but that we would continue to look for him and maybe he would turn up.   I know I had put him in the pile to be loaded in the van; I know I had seen him in the van; I know I had given him to her to hug at one point, so we didn't bother calling Matt's parents to see if he was there.  Instead, we started reminiscing about all the things Clare had done with him and places she'd taken him.  And, interestingly enough, started grieving him.  It was sad for me to think that my daughter's favorite stuffed puppy was gone.  I think Clare still held out hope, as she asked again on Friday, "Where is Apple Pie?"   I started collecting some "Clare & Apple Pie" photos for a blog post: 
 

And then...  Found!

On Friday afternoon we got a call from Minnesota: "Is it okay if Clare's puppy comes out of time-out?"

It turns out Clare had taken Apple Pie into the "time-out" landing on the stairs (a way-cooler time out spot than our bottom step at home) to play.  And she had left him there.

So, he was on the pile of stuff to be loaded in the van.  But I guess I was wrong about seeing him in the van. 

Crazy, the relief I felt at having found him.  It was just a stuffed puppy!  And yet a lot more than a stuffed puppy -- he represented a good and happy part of Clare's toddlerhood. 

Apple Pie arrived today in the mail: 

Clare couldn't stop grinning.