The brindle dog cowered in the back of her kennel, her dark chocolate eyes peering warily up at me. I couldn\u2019t blame her. She\u2019d just arrived here at Denver International Airport after what must have been a terribly disorienting two-week journey all the way from Iraq.<\/p>\n
I knelt down and reached my arm out to her, slowly, so I wouldn\u2019t scare her. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Heidi,\u201d I told her. \u201cYou know my son, Shawn. I\u2019m going to take care of you until he comes home.\u201d<\/p>\n
If<\/em> he comes home. That fear had preyed on my mind ever since my Shawny deployed to Iraq with the National Guard seven months earlier. Every night he\u2019d been gone, I\u2019d begged God to watch over him and bring him home safely. I missed going out for ice cream and shopping with him, the long talks we\u2019d have. I could always pour my heart out to him.<\/p>\n He\u2019d be the first to admit he\u2019s a mama\u2019s boy. That\u2019s why I was so excited when he called a few weeks earlier. He wasn\u2019t able to call often, so it had to be big news.<\/p>\n Was he coming home? No. He wanted to tell me about Heidi, a stray that his unit had unofficially adopted<\/a> and Shawn had fallen in love with. His unit was transferring and couldn\u2019t take her with them. The new troops coming in didn\u2019t want the responsibility of caring for a dog. \u201cI have to find her a home, or who knows what will happen to her,\u201d he said. \u201cCan she stay with you for now?\u201d<\/p>\n Like this story so far? Subscribe to<\/em> All Creatures magazine!<\/em><\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Even though I love dogs, and already had a Lab, Sophie, I hesitated to take in a dog I\u2019d never met. But I could tell it meant a lot to Shawn: The cost of sending Heidi home through an organization called Operation Baghdad Pups<\/a> was two thousand dollars.<\/p>\n Now my husband, Tom, and I were here at the airport, meeting Heidi, even if I wished I were bringing my son home instead. I gently stroked Heidi\u2019s scruffy coat, trying to reassure her. Funny, you know more about Shawn\u2019s life over the last seven months than I do<\/em>, I thought.<\/p>\n In Shawn\u2019s occasional e-mails and even rarer phone calls he wasn\u2019t allowed to give many details. What was his day like? Was he afraid? Had Heidi comforted him, as I wanted so badly to do?<\/p>\n I coaxed Heidi out of the kennel and clipped a leash to her collar. I took her for a quick walk outside the cargo area before Tom and I got her into the car. Heidi was jittery the whole ride. The shadowy mountains and forests that she saw out the car window as we drove through the Colorado countryside to our small town probably frightened her even more than the plane\u2014she\u2019d never seen any place like it.<\/p>\n Finally we pulled into our driveway. I clipped Heidi\u2019s leash on again and let her sniff around our front yard a little. She was still anxious. \u201cCome on,\u201d I said, leading Heidi into the garage. I hoped that getting her inside and feeding her some dog food or some bacon would settle her a bit.<\/p>\n Suddenly, Heidi jerked the leash. She lowered her head and backed away, so hard that she slipped out of her collar. I grabbed for her, but she turned and ran\u2026right out of the garage. The empty leash and collar dangled in my hand.<\/p>\n Heidi paused at the end of the driveway. She looked back at me, tilting her head as if deciding whether to run off or not. \u201cGet a snack or something,\u201d Tom quietly called. I ran inside and quickly grabbed a slice of bologna from the fridge. But just when we got close, Heidi bolted. I raced after her. She was too fast.<\/p>\n Out of breath, I bent over, hands on my knees, and watched helplessly as her furry form disappeared into the darkness. Tom and I ran up and down our street calling her name. Then our daughter, Sarah, came out to help. She and Tom got into the car and drove around the neighborhood, shouting at the top of their lungs. I stayed home, in case Heidi circled back. But she didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Tom and Sarah saw no sign of her either. I couldn\u2019t believe it. Heidi hadn\u2019t even set a paw in my house and already I\u2019d lost her. She was used to the desert\u2026how could she navigate our area?<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s look for her again in the morning,\u201d Tom finally said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be easier to find her when it\u2019s light out. She can\u2019t have gone too far. She\u2019ll be fine.\u201d I wished I could believe him.<\/p>\n Dear God<\/em>, I prayed, I know I\u2019ve been praying overtime lately and there are a lot of people in this world who need your help. But please bring this poor dog safely back to us. My son would be so heartbroken if anything happened to her<\/em>. In a way, my prayer for Shawn became one for Heidi.<\/p>\n First thing in the morning, I searched again. Nothing. Not even a passing jogger had seen her. I came back home and called Operation Baghdad Pups, crying so hard I could barely speak when a woman finally picked up. Somehow, I managed to tell her about losing Heidi.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should call your local media,\u201d she said. \u201cGet the community to help.\u201d<\/p>\n I felt a flicker of hope. My neighbor offered to contact some TV stations and newspapers. They were all interested in the story\u2014Soldier\u2019s Rescued Dog Needs Rescuing. My twin sister, Jo, and I drove around town, putting up flyers we\u2019d made with Heidi\u2019s picture. Dozens of people in my town volunteered to help. The search was on.<\/p>\n I dreaded telling Shawn. Heidi had been gone 48 hours when the phone rang, and I just knew it was him. I took a deep breath, but I already felt the tears welling up. \u201cHi, Shawny,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n He must have heard it in my voice. \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Shawn. It\u2019s Heidi. She ran away. I lost her.\u201d I told him about the news stories, the flyers, the neighbors searching for her. \u201cEveryone\u2019s looking but\u2026I don\u2019t know. I\u2019m so sorry\u2026\u201d I broke down.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Mom. Don\u2019t worry. You\u2019ll find her,\u201d he said, trying to console me. \u201cListen, tell everyone that she loves blueberry Pop-Tarts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBlueberry Pop-Tarts? I thought bacon\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot a lot of bacon in a Muslim country, Mom,\u201d Shawn said. \u201cBut for some reason we\u2019re fully stocked on blueberry Pop-Tarts. She gobbles them right up.\u201d<\/p>\n Only Shawn could make me smile at a time like this. He told me that his tour of duty was nearly over, but I knew that every day he spent in Iraq was another chance he could get hurt\u2026or worse. And now, on top of everything else, he would be worrying about a missing dog too.<\/p>\n I bought a few boxes of blueberry Pop-Tarts and let everyone know about Heidi\u2019s odd food preference. Soon searchers were out trying to lure Heidi with her favorite treat. Even animal control officers baited cages with them.<\/p>\n But a day later, still no Heidi. A reporter from Channel 4 broadcast from our front yard, updating viewers, showing pictures of Heidi and Shawn to urge people to keep looking. Three days had passed already. I feared the worst. I had all but given up. A dog from Iraq, lost in Colorado for so long? We had wolves and coyotes and mountain lions around here. What chance did she have?<\/p>\n The reporter had just finished her segment when the phone rang. Tom answered it. \u201cYou just saw Heidi\u2019s picture on the news? She\u2019s in your driveway?\u201d I overheard him say. I snatched up a box of blueberry Pop-Tarts and one of Shawn\u2019s Army hats for a familiar smell. Tom hung up the phone. \u201cThey live about eight miles from here,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n But by the time we got there, Heidi had run off again. We searched late into the night. No luck. Had Heidi really traveled this far? I couldn\u2019t imagine how scared, hungry and tired she must be. If she was still alive. That night, before I went to bed, I prayed again over Heidi and Shawn. Keep them safe, Lord. Bring them home.<\/em><\/p>\n The next morning, Tom and I decided to go back to the neighborhood where she was spotted the night before. We parked our car in front of the tipster\u2019s house.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere should we go from here?\u201d I asked Tom.<\/p>\n \u201cLook behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n I turned. Heidi! She was crossing the street and hadn\u2019t noticed us. Thank you, God<\/em>. We quietly followed her until she came to a chain-link fence. She turned to face us. Please, Lord, don\u2019t let her run<\/em>.<\/p>\n I sat down near her and slowly unwrapped a Pop-Tart. Heidi licked her chops. She was clearly hungry, but looked all right. I broke off a piece of the pastry and tossed it. She crept closer and wolfed it down. I bet this is how Shawny got you to trust him<\/em>, I thought.<\/p>\n Soon, she was eating the Pop-Tart out of my hand. I held Shawn\u2019s hat out and she sniffed it. I put my arms around her. \u201cYou miss him too,\u201d I said to Heidi, my tears wetting her fur. \u201cI know you do. But he\u2019ll come home to us soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes all a mother has are her prayers, her trust in the Lord and a blueberry Pop-Tart. I slipped the leash onto Heidi and led her to the car. I couldn\u2019t wait to tell Shawn she was home. Soon, I knew, he\u2019d be home too.<\/p>\n