happy endings really happen....

First of all- Bentley is doing very well. He is back to waking up the other Mama at 5 or 5:30 in the AM if she's not up yet. That is a good sign; when he's not well- well, he lays around in bed till all hours of the morning. I'll take his loud mouth any 'ole day waking us up! The happy ending is a wee bit longer. After we sent Miss Roux on to her fur-ever home, Kris mentioned it was kinda quiet around here. Naturally, we had to take into consideration that Bentley wasn't on top of his game yet. But, the Texas Airedale Rescue Team got hit really hard with about 11 rescues and we needed fosters as soon possible. So....with a few things to get in order, like preparing for Fall semester classes, getting Bentley better, going to see Wicked the Musical (it was awesome), working on my fund raiser decoupage Airedale boxes to raise money for Airedale rescue,etc. I made some calls to Cheryl (TART) our coordinator in Austin. Then some more to the Austin/Georgetown area, where a lovely senior girl named Ella was being temporarily fostered in a house without a doggy door. Ella is approximately 10, has a bladder tumor that she is on medication for and needed to have access to a doggy door since she needed to pee often. They said she was great. Anyways, our house fit the bill and I figured that she and the Bentman would be fine together. The old ones are harder to place and most of us have a really big soft spot in our hearts for them! I was going to get her from Georgetown next week. When I got home from school today this is the e-mail I opened and read from one of the TART coordinators and want to share with you:

On August 24th, barely daring to hope, Jane M. of Red Oak, TX., sent a
note to me (Cheryl Silver--with TART) in Austin,TX. Her
question--"Where did the 'dale listed on Petfinder as "Ella" come from?
She had lost her Airedale girl on the 4th of July and all efforts to
find her had failed--reports of sightings had dwindled down to nothing.
The way the old girl was squatting to potty in one of the pictures
reminded Jane of her 'dale, Jessie, who has a bladder tumor for which
she was taking medication..

It was close to 9 p.m. when I got her email. Seems she had been at
work and someone had a radio playing on station KRLD. Her ears perked
up when she heard an announcement about the KRLD Pet of the Week--an
Airedale named Maggie. Jane dared to hope that someone had found
Jessie, turned her in to a shelter and named her Maggie. She looked up
Maggie on Petfinder only to discover that Maggie was an Airedale-mix,
cute--but not her Jessie. Scrolling through the other postings she saw
"Ella."

Ella had come to TART through a shelter in Cedar Hill (about 15 miles
from Red Oak) where she was picked up as a stray. She was clearly
elderly and emaciated but very sweet. TART volunteer, Tom Bambrick,
pulled her out of the shelter and delivered her to the nurturing hands
of TART volunteer, Melissa Sibley who has a kennel in Cedar Hill.
Ella was promptly delivered to the vet who declined to give her any
vaccines except bordatella due to her tenuous condition. A few days
later Ella came to Becky's kennel and vetted more intensively- -the
bladder tumor was discovered and she was started on Piroxicam--the same
medication Jessie was prescribed.

Ella was weak but determined. She would eat with gusto and, when a
foster home with two large Maine Coon cats was set up, she would take
great interest in the kitties but she never bothered them. Her foster
mom, Marcia, discovered that Ella adored both cantaloupe and her cushy
dog bed and she welcomed all visitors to the home. She was clearly
house trained. Ella was clear about telling Marcia when she wanted a
walk through the comfy Rosedale neighborhood in central Austin. The
neighbors welcomed this old girl who was gaining strength by the hour
and her coquettish glances were duly noticed..... she is such a flirt.

Jane and I talked at length about the 'dale in our care. I assured her
that in the morning Becky would use the name "Jessie" with Ella to see
how she responded. Through the evening, Jane sent numerous posts
providing information to help identify her Jessie. Jessie had a mole;
Jessie had experienced hematomas in her ears leaving them
thickened... ...everything pointed to Ella being her Jessie. Jane's
sister sent some pix of Jessie taken within the past two
years....... clearly the grinning girl in the pictures looked like Ella.

In the morning all doubt was erased when Ella began a happy dance when
Becky addressed her as "Jessie." Jessie's family was notified and
before the sun set they had driven to Georgetown to get their beloved
girl. It was a joyous reunion with Jessie nearly jumping into her
mom's lap....not bad for an old girl.

So there have been lots of smiles in central Texas for the past 24 hours
and one of the sweetest smiles is Jessie's.... .....what a girl.
Oh--Jessie's mom has offered to help TART in the future...... no bad!

*I have contacted KRLD about the story. They may do a story on the
reunion.*
**Jessie was reported to NAR on July 5 but when we learned of her 3
weeks later in a different town we did not make the connection.* *

A BIG GIANT AAAIIIRRREE-OOOO FOR JESSIE AND HER FAMILY! Who says that happy endings don't come true? Have a great day from all of us in Texas!