Several people had contacted me and asked how I had gotten Boo-Boo back
afer she had been lost for six weeks, so I decided to just write it in and
maybe give some hope to anyone who has the misfortune for this to happen.
 
We live in an apartment building, and at the time had only Boo and Bailey.
Bailey was still recovering from being sick and was happy to spend most of
her day in the open cage sleeping.  Our ferrets free roam.
 
Our front door has the weather stripping from Hell.  Whom ever put this
stuff on must have had the aftermath of a nuclear fallout in mind.  Our
door doesn't swing shut by itself, doesn't close slowly like some heavy
apartment doors do.  To get the friggin thing open you have to use your
best "Kill The Quarterback" hip-slam.  The night she got lost, Phil had
gone to the grocery store.  He kicked the door shut, we put the things
away and went to bed.
 
The next morning I woke up early to get ready to go from Cleveland to
Columbus to visit family.  I walked out into our family room and the door
was open.  I wasn't scared someone was in our apartment, I was completely
and totally sick to my stomach because I knew Boo liked to wander at night.
We tore the apartment apart.  We ripped out the bottom of the cabinets to
make sure she hadn't gotten sick and trapped.  We pulled the dishwasher
out, tore apart every closet and under the refrigerator.  We checked the
downstairs laundry room, the front of the building, everything.  I made up
a flyer, went to Office Max and had them made, put them up on every front
door of the 5 buildings around us.  I beat the bushes, brought squeaky toys
outside.  Every time I went inside to check the phone, I felt guilty and
went back outside.  I cried all damn day.  The entire terrible day.  Phil
came home that night and took flyers to every pet store in the area.  I
was terrified someone would try and resell her.  All weekend long, I cried
every single time I thought of her.  Phil was good until the end of the
weekend and then he broke down that night, too.  I had to go back to work
that Monday and hated it.  Everyone at work felt terrible for me, wanted to
help, asked about her constantly.  We offered $100 for her return on new
flyers.
 
Three weeks later, nothing.  I was physically sick, I cried all the time.
The unfortunate person at work who said, "Just get another one" almost lost
his life as soon as the words were out of his mouth.  Poor Bailey would get
up and look for Boo and that would make me cry until I got sick.  Then, I
am at work one day and get a phone call from Phil.  "A guy from Gerber's
said she walked right up to him and climbed up his leg!  He took her home,
I have his number!"  My boss even let me off work early to go get her with
Phil.  I came flying into the parking lot, jump out of the car and Phil
comes down.  The look on his face said everything.  "He lost her.  He took
her home and she got out a hole in his screen door."  I remember just
staring at him until I burst into tears in the parking lot.
 
After that, I figured she was dead.  It was in the 90's all the time, and
she was so little.  To make me feel better, Phil bought me Tassy and
Sturmie.  It helped but not really.  And then after about 6 weeks, Phil
gets a phone call at work from the APL.  One of their workers who acts as a
Foster Mom to their rescues had a ferret.  She asked we bring pictures of
Boo with us.  We went, with the reward money, and found her house.  It was
less than 100 yards from where Phil works.  She looked at the pictures,
nodded and said it looked like her.  I was so scared to be happy, afraid
that she was going to bring out this ferret 4 pounds heavier and 8 inches
longer than Boo, but there was my baby.  Boo took one look at Phil, sniffed
him and promptly crawled up his shirt into his hair to lick his ears.  Then
she crawled across him to me and into my shirt.
 
It took her almost a year to re-adjust.  When ever she exhibited a behavior
that was new, I knew she had used it to survive.  How this little tiny
thing only 6 inches long and 2 pounds made it 6 weeks on her own, I will
never know.  They all are special to me, but her... She came back to me.
She KNEW me, she KNEW who I was.  I still tell her I'm sorry, to this day,
two years later.  It was my own ignorance and arrogance that led to my
taking it for granted that she would always be there.  We still allow our
babies to free roam...for the time being.  A 3 story, 6 foot tall cage is
halfway done.  But we never take the trash out without searching through
it, never do laundry without going through the bags.  I will literally go
get Phil and make him look in the dishwasher even though I see there is
nothing in there.  We never ever go to sleep without knowing where they
are.  Phil and I will just look at each other and without a word, bolt for
their sleeping places.
 
I'm not sure about bigger things like God, Fate or the like.  I would like
to think that we loved her so much before she got lost that she knew it,
that she knew she had to get back to us, and that she knew Mommy and Daddy
would not stop looking for her.  And now they own us completely.  Not out
of guilt.  Out of knowledge of what it felt like when she was gone, that
incredible terrible awful feeling.
 
Every time I read a Rainbow Bridge post on the FML, I cry.  Every single
time.  I can not imagine feeling worse than I did when she was gone, but
you know it is worse.  I got my baby back, and there is NOTHING I wouldn't
do to keep her happy, healthy and with me.
[Posted in FML issue 2470]