This area used to be all farmland. In the last few years, the state has made it a tree farm. But about a mile down the road from the edge of our five mile radius where Lydia was lost is this open field with a very small horse stable in the middle of it. I had lived in this area for over 20 years before moving to our present home and Jerry had lived in the area his entire life, but neither of us were aware of the stable. I have no idea how long it has been there. It becomes important to this story for one reason. At the end of the first week, on the second Saturday when I left for the search and planned to stay all day and night if need be, about midway through the afternoon there was a very large commotion "down the road" from the area. There were police cars and ambulances. I knew immediately the noise would push Lydia into hiding.

I called Karin to tell her that I had come home for a bit and she described a structure. She was not making a lot of sense to me at that time, but I tried harder to understand what she was talking about. I searched my memory banks for a structure like the one she was describing and I attempted to tell her that what she was saying was absolutely not there, since the area she was talking about, I THOUGHT was all office buildings and tree farm. The tree farm begins just on the other side of the office buildings, but I had not even told her about the tree farm, yet she was telling me about it. Finally, I told her I would look for the structure. She told me not to worry about that because Lydia was not there, but there was something about that structure so maybe I should look for it because it could be that Lydia was finding it at times and using it as shelter. I could tell Karin was not overly concerned with the structure, but it had plagued her at some point or she would not have told me about it.

The next day I knew exactly what she was talking about. I bought a local newspaper and was shocked to see the road where I was searching for Lydia named in the paper. A bit down that road from us, a woman had been trampled to death by a horse the day before ... the noise and sirens I had heard the day before. I do not know if Lydia had been to the area and seen it, or if Karin was just so focused in on that area that she picked up on it. When I talked to Karin I started to tell her, but all I managed to get out was that I had found the structure she was talking about. Karin told me not to worry about that, and began telling me what I needed to do for the night. She would tell me where to leave food for Lydia and how to use Rescue Remedy to help this scared little dog who needed to come home.

When I managed to recall the Bird's Eye view and sent the link to Karin, she began telling me where Lydia was immediately. And I will never forget what I said:

"OH KARIN, NO. I THINK YOU ARE READING THAT WRONG BECAUSE THAT IS ACROSS THE ROAD."

When she could not get through to me, and when I was almost so tired I would have missed Lydia had I seen her most likely, Karin spoke to my husband. At that point I was discouraged because there had not been a sighting for several days. I was concerned. NO, to be totally honest, I was scared. After Jerry talked to Karin he road with me to the area where I had spent so many long nights. There were several mornings when I needed to leave that I had to stay a little longer because the MS was acting up and I could not do anything but lie very still until the spasms stopped. But determination and love are very strong motivators. I am sure Karin can speak to that because I have no doubt whatsoever that she fell totally in love with this little dog that she saw night after lonely night. And Lydia was lonely.

She would not enter our traps because she had seen cats get trapped in them. To make matters worse, strangers had been arriving during the hours we were changing clothes and eating. And now there had not been a sighting in a few days. So I was very afraid. But Karin spoke to Jerry and we drove together to the place Karin had told him to go. It was a street called Trinity Drive and it was across the road from the original area. Right at the edge of Trinity Drive, even though this is a housing development, there was a small stretch of woods. At one end was a house facing the main road. And almost behind that house was an empty house with a fenced in back yard. The family had only recently moved out. I got out of the van and walked behind the house and there, in the fresh mud (it had rained the night before) were a dog's paw prints. They looked to be the size of Lydia's and this area has a leash law. So it had to be a stray making the prints ... or a very scared, lonely and hungry little Pit Bull named Lydia.
 

I peered into the crate and there was Lydia!!! The Rescue Remedy had made her very sleepy and she actually appeared drunk.

I smiled as I posted the picture that night and wrote in the note that
"YES WE HAD DRUGGED HER FOOD". There was no denying the very sleepy girl in that crate was our" Lydia".

There have been a lot of details to work out and a lot of budgeting after so much money spent during that 3 and 1/2 weeks. I was not online often enough to ask for help and donations and they do not seem to come in unless I ask for help. So we cleaned our checking accounts out - both the personal and the rescue ... but Lydia is home. Or she is almost home. On the day when Lydia can walk past a human being and not think they may do her harm; on the day when a human hand can touch her and she does not cringe a little; on the day when the wonderful memories make those horrible years of abuse fade into the background ... then Lydia will be home -

THANKS TO A WOMAN THAT LIVES OVER 1000 MILES AWAY IN OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA,
Karin, I can never tell you exactly what your actions and the time, heart and love you put into this mean to me.

NEVER in all the times I spoke with Karin did she mention payment. Instead, even though I know the time it took to do what she did both
 day and night, she donated to our rescue so we could keep looking for Lydia.

She also asked others to" put their money where their mouths" were and do the same.

She would call when she was concerned send a new map by email,
and kept sending distant healing to keep Lydia's energy level in balance. She never gave up.

Because of this, Lydia is safe today. And Lydia is as much Karin's dog as she is ours.

I know Lydia will forever be in Karin's heart -

and Karin lives there in Lydia's as well...