Reunited

What started out yesterday as a lovely day quickly turned to disaster. Leo escaped from the house mid-afternoon and it took several minutes for Amelia to realize that he was gone (our front door is broken and sometimes swings open in strong winds unless the deadbolt is locked). Scott and John were out back playing basketball and I was at the grocery store when the feline escape artist left. When I checked my phone in the middle of the shopping trip I was sad to see that Amelia had send me three text messages and left a voicemail in a span of about 10 minutes. Amelia was frantic that Leo was gone and she was crying, hysterical and worried she would never see Leo again.

After I got home we spent several hours looking for Leo, walking up and down the block calling his name and poking around in our neighbor's bushes. Then Amelia made lost cat posters that we placed around the block. Then Amelia cried some more and I sent a message to our block email list and posted for help on Facebook. Then Amelia cried some more and went to bed without taking time to read first. If you know Amelia and her love of reading, you'll realize that is a true sign of how upset she was.

The good news is that Leo returned today and Amelia is so happy that she and her beloved kitten are reunited!

Leo looks thrilled in that shot, doesn't he?

Many people played a role in the cat's return. My friend Robin suggested (via Facebook since she lives in South Carolina) that we put food out on the front doorstep to entice Leo back. I had forgotten that food might be a good idea, so Robin's suggestion led us to leave out the dry food bowl last night. The bowl was empty this morning. Of course the fact that it was empty doesn't mean Leo ate the food, but we refilled it anyway just in case before we all left for the day. Then mid-morning our across the street neighbor, Kate, replied to my block email and said that she would be on the lookout for Leo. Then an hour later I received the following text messages from Scott, who was working from home:

I immediately called Scott to ask what happened, and he said that Leo was eating from the food bowl on the front step when Kate was backing her car out of the driveway across the street. Kate noticed the ball of black fur on the step from her rearview mirror and got out to ring the doorbell to alert Scott that Leo was outside. 

And as a side note, for those of you who know Scott, you know that the fact that he was happy about a cat's return to the Wilson home means a lot. I think Scott actually likes Ronnie James Leo! (more on the name later).

Besides Amelia's over the moon joy that Leo is back, I have to admit feeling relieved as well. I didn't expect to have such difficulty watching Amelia get so upset in such a short amount of time. It was really, really hard to watch your child experience an unfortunate event like the loss of a pet. I am so glad it was temporary.

I am working form home tomorrow and will be glad to have my working buddy back for company. When he was really small (first few weeks we had him) Leo would lay on my arm and purr like a madman.

Now he is more content to lay on whatever papers I am reviewing in front of me. Leo's paws regularly hit the keys and insert characters where I don't want them.

And sometimes Leo watches the cursor or mouse icon intently and then tries to swat at the moving symbol on the screen. Such a funny cat. Except when he is escaping and causing drama in our household, that is!