This is a Christmas story that is filled with love, miricles, and the reality of life. Buddy was a Black Lab English Shepard mix who joined our family on Christmas Eve 2004.

My son who was 15yrs old at the time was recoving from a horrible accident that nearly took his life and unfortunately took the life of his 7 yr old sister. He was broken on the inside and out, both mentally and physically. He was learning to walk again and by Christmas eve was just starting to use platform crutches to make his way around. My son still had cast on both arms and on one leg. he was still on blood thinners and required oxygen at night, however, when he was in intensive care the summer before, I promised him that when he was able to walk with crutches I would buy him a puppy to keep him company on those long winter nights. Well, just so happens that day was Christmas Eve.

My eldest daughter and I loaded up Camryn in the car and headed for the grocery store to get some last minute items for Dinner when we first met Buddy. He was in front of the store in a card board box along with about 8 other puppies. We saw the puppies and my son was taken immediately by Buddy’s eyes and the pityful look on his face. He wasn’t jumping around like the others, but sat in the corner of the box looking rather hopeless and scared. I knew immediately that my son related to him because being a former football player and very active teenage boy who had spent the last six months in a hospital bed, the surgeries and dealing with the loss of his baby sister had taken their toll. We didn’t have a lot of money that Christmas because I had to quit my job to stay home with my son until he was better, so the $ 50.00 that they were wanting for Buddy seemed like a lot of money for a dog that would also require food and other nessesary equipment, but when I saw the smile on my son’s face when he looked at Buddy, it was a “real smile” one I had not seen since the accident, so instead of pies and other not so necessary dinner items we bought Buddy and dog food instead. It was the best decision of my life. On the way home we were trying to come up with a name for him and dedided that we would appropriately call him “Buddy” after the “Buddy the Elf” the Christmas movie starring Will Farrell. After all it was Christmas Eve.

The years went by and Camryn started walking again and even though he was still on blood thinners for his blood clots, he returned to school. Buddy spent many nights keeping Camryn calm during the painful shots and treatments he had to endure and was there to witness the great moments like when he took his very first steps on his own again. Buddy was in his senior pictures with him and was his constant companion until he left to go to college. Then he became my comfort on those quiet nights when I would go into my son’s empty room and cry because I worried about him and missed him. I am pretty sure that Buddy was crying too.

Five months after my son went to college Buddy just vanished. I was out of town for the day and like always Buddy was an inside dog and was in the house when I left. When I returned that night I walked in the door and noticed that he was not home. For the next month I searched, put up posters, offered rewards, posted his picture on missing dog websites but nothing! I cried everyday for a month. Still to this day, I do not know what happebnd to him. I live on a ranch out in the country and my door was always unlocked so if the neighbors needed something they could get it so I can only surmise that someone accidentally let him out. What happend after that remains a mystery to this day. I sometimes think that maybe God allowed us to have Buddy until both of us were stronger and better both physically and mentally and could go on with our lives. I think about Buddy everyday and so does my son. Maybe someone else needed him more. But he will always be our Christmas miricle. We love you Buddy and will always miss you, no matter where you are, in heaven or on earth.

Deborah from CO