How Much Does a Therapist Cost?

Taryn-the-now-17-year-old-girl was walking down the hill to catch her school bus on Tuesday morning.  She phoned me within a couple of minutes of leaving the house to tell me to warn Liam that the hill was quite slippery and he should allow a few extra minutes to get to his bus.  Awww... how sweet.

The chatter went on something like this,

Oh, there's this cute little dog running by me.  He's black and white and small and his body looks like it's floating above his little legs that are moving sooooo fast.  He's adorable, I've never seen him before.  Maybe he's lost, I wonder where he's going.  Oh no, it looks like he's going to go out onto the highway.  Oh!  Someone just honked his horn at him.  He's not getting off the road.

Then came the blood curdling scream which, I'm certain, I could have heard, even if we had not been on the phone together.

The little dog just got hit by a car, he's yelping, he flew into the ditch.  Mom, he's just a lump, he's not moving.  YOU HAVE TO HELP!!

Now, she's crying and hyperventilating.

So, I put down my coffee, grab a hoodie (not my Wonder Woman cape), rubber gloves and a towel and get into my Jeep in my pajama pants and Crocs (which, we all know, should never be worn in public despite what you have been told), and drive down the hill to pick what I'm certain will be a dead and mutilated dog out of the ditch.

I must do this to save my daughter from having a stroke.

Lucky day for me and the little dog.  He She's not dead at all:  a little unsteady, sensitive and shaky.  I wrapped her in a towel, took her to the local veterinary office and told them that I had a plane to catch and could follow up in three days.

Today, on the way home from the airport, I stopped in at the vet's office to find that, not only was she just fine, her owners had claimed her.  While they were on vacation, they trusted the child, who they had successfully raised,to take care of their remaining dependent.  Being a dog who remains almost exclusively in her house due to her age and cataracts, she escaped into a totally unfamiliar environment.  According to the vet, the offspring was not completely honest to his parents as to the extent of the dog's disappearance.  A kid lying to his parents.... hmmm..... and I thought they outgrew that, eventually.