Carter back under much better circumstances

One year ago, around midnight, I met this man, David Scott of Van Horn. He and other locals established an impromptu emergency shelter in the local high school gym for hundreds of people needing a place to stay after a snow storm closed 1-10. We not only needed shelter, but hope. Our souls were shaken to the core after we were tossed about in a major car accident. Our beloved dog, Carter bolted off into the blizzard as darkness fell.

In a leap of faith, I told this man, David what had happened and he immediately offered to take me at sunrise to look for my Carter.

We spent almost 5 hours tracing Carter’s tracks in the snow, through the desert brush and hills along the tracks of other wildlife.  The afternoon sun melted them away, but David was so patient and willing to give me as much time looking as my weary body and spirit could handle.

We attended church with David and his wife Patti he next day. Patti told the modest congregation our story and asked for prayers for Carter’s safety and our healing and to spread the word to local ranchers to help find Carter.

The readings that Sunday in church were to believe in the light that would lead us out of this Winter’s darkness. Later that evening, David lent his truck to my husband Mark and the kids to go back into the desert to look for Carter. As he and his wife drove me 120 miles to El Paso to rent a car so we may somehow leave for New Orleans. Just days later, our next hero, a veteran also from Louisiana would find Carter some 30 miles West from where he had disappeared. He called the number on Carter’s tag and upon learning that he lived only a few miles from where we lived, he graciously volunteered to bring our sweet dog home. A heartfelt reunion shortly followed.

It was that ounce of faith that gave me the strength, believing that it would be possible for a happy reunion such as this. When Carter met David and Patti, he immediately leaped up and kissed them, even though he had never met them, as I had hoped he would.

Our stop at the accident site was a bit unusual, as it was the only stop we made along out trip where Carter refused to get out of the vehicle. He was visibly shaken and timid as if he remembered the tragedy that had befallen him only a year prior.

The lesson learned on that day was instilled by a humble remark said by David. “All I tried to do is treat other people the way I want to be treated.”

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here