Sneebert's Big Adventure...

Friday morning, at 2:45 am (I was at work), I received a phone call from my somewhat panicked husband.  He simply stated, "I can't find weenie and I don't know what to do".  Being the helpful wife I am, I responded, "you have to find him!"  I had never heard Phillip's voice shake the way it did, he was clearly very upset, and I was 1.5 hours away working in Wichita.

So the story goes:

When I called Phillip at 10:30 pm, in transit to work, as always, I asked what my little weenie was up to, and Phillip explained that he was sleeping on the couch.  A fairly normal Thursday night event for both of my boys when I'm not home.  Apparently Sam was over at the house and had drank just a bit too much to drive home, so Phillip offered to take him.  Phillip, Sneebie, & Sam hopped in the car and drove the 2 miles to Sam's.  All 3 got out of Phillip's truck, and while Phillip and Sam were engrossed in some grain-talk, Sneebie managed to sneak away.  Phillip guesses that maybe 10 minutes had passed before they realized that Sneebie was no where to be found.  So the boys got out their Mag-lights and set off to find a little brown weenie, with no name tag on somewhere in the dark of the night.  This was one of our first cooler nights, hanging around 48 degrees, so Phillip knew he needed to find him quickly.  When the search went from 15 minutes to 2 hours, Phillip grew more and more helpless/hopeless in finding him, but he persevered nevertheless.

After I received the phone call, I knew I couldn't just stay at work.  Phillip had let Sam go home, so Phillip was the only one searching for the weenie at this point.  He didn't ask me to come home, but I knew if I had been in the same situation, that I would need him more than ever.  I told my manager that I needed to leave, and lucky for me, everyone knows that Sneebie is my child that I would do anything for, she told me to go, fully knowing that I would not be able to properly care for my patients knowing that Sneebie was not safe at home.

So I drove home, speeding a little of course, and arrived at our house at 4 am.  I only had scrubs on, and if I was going to be outside looking for Sneebie, I would need a jacket and probably some tennis shoes.  As I changed into my tennis shoes, I heard a bark.  Like the bark Sneebie says when he's at his Gramma's house and just wants to be let in from outside.  In my mind I thought, "no way..." as I ran to the garage door.  No weenie.  Then I heard the bark again and ran to the back door.  Sure enough standing at the back door, was a little brown weenie, with wet and dirty little feet just wanting to come inside.  He walked home, 2 miles, in the middle of the night.  I called Phillip, who was looking at a golf course, close to Sam's house, and told him to come home immediately, Sneebie was home.  When Phillip arrived home, he swept Sneebie up in his arms and burst into tears.  He was so worried and kept saying that he was a "bad dad".  I reassured him that he was not and that this just as easily could have happened to me.  Seeing Phillip's love and devotion to Sneebie made me emotional and we all just sat there at 4 in the morning, the little family we are just appreciating each other.

We can't imagine our lives without all 3 of us in it.  God was looking out for us Friday morning, and we agreed that we had received one of the greatest blessings.

Poor Phillip was exhausted, and hadn't even thought to look at home.  Who would have guessed that Sneebie, the pampered house dog he is, could navigate his way home and survive against all of the coyotes and other predators that exist outside.  We were completely in awe of one of God's greatest creations (in our book at least:).

Sneebie now wears a collar whenever he's outside just in case he would ever be lost again.  But Phillip and I are determined to watch him better from now on too.  He just means so much to us.

Who would have thought that THIS little pampered weenie could navigate his way through the wilderness to his home 2 miles away?

Friday could have turned out to be a really bad day for the Van Court's... but it was amazing that we could pull together and know, that even if the worst case scenario happened, we would still have each other.  I think that may be one of the greatest things about marriage.  We never have to be alone. 

Phillip is going to be the most amazing father.  Of course I'm biased, but I'll never forget the time we were sitting on the couch at my old apartment and he began the Sadie story for the first time to me.  The greatest quote he said was "I've got a lot of love to give", and I see that everyday when he gets home with Sneebie.  It's so exciting to think of how that will be multiplied with a little person in our lives.