Patch Confessional

Well, the inevitable happened. We lost Patch. Remember Patch? Shelby's best friend who rarely left her side? Who accompanied us everywhere, like...

...Disneyland...

...and other day trips just about everywhere?

Who joined her for all thumb-sucking and napping?

Who was always there to just hang out?

Who pretty much became a part of the family?

 

Yep, that's the Patch we lost. 

He came to church with us on Sunday and VANISHED! It's a mystery. For me it's a lesson on listening to the still small voice - church was the only place I ever had any second thoughts about taking him, and he really did go everywhere with us. So I should have known. 

Anyway, after church we realized he was missing and ran in and searched for forty minutes. We looked everywhere. Later that night Tom borrowed a set of church keys and searched again for an hour. He checked every door and closet. That dog is not there. We emailed the entire ward after church and no one has him. Is there a black hole in our church building? That's the only explanation.

Sunday night was the first night she's spent without Patch in the year or so since their best friendship started. It was not a good night for her. It broke our hearts. She can't sleep without him. She is such a good girl and asks so little of us, so not being able to help her was awful. There's no worse feeling of impotence than having your little one crying and upset, knowing exactly what would fix it, and being absolutely unable to do anything about it. Not fun. 

Thankfully, there are exact Patch replicas out there, so he was replaceable. After church we ordered a couple on Amazon as backups, but after Sunday night we realized that our sad little girl shouldn't have to wait until delivery on Wednesday. Tom found one at Barnes and Noble (another reason to love that store!) and rushed out Monday to get a replacement. It of course wasn't at the location five minutes from our house, and he still hasn't confessed how far he had to drive to get it. It doesn't matter; he found it. 

I can't say enough about Tom and the amazing dad he is. He loves that little girl so much. He'd do anything for her. Watching him interact with her, listen to her, play with her, or even talk about her is the sweetest thing. Shelby loves him right back, and they're an adorable duo. 

So back to Patch - Operation Patch Replacement went incredibly well. After we washed the new one with her laundry to make it smell more familiar, we introduced him to Shelby. I didn't feel good about pretending the new one was the original, so we told Shelby that Patch was hiding so well that mom and dad couldn't find him. We let her know that this new friend had come to live with her and he is Patch, too. She curled right up in her bed with the new Patch and found her thumb. There was visible relief on her little face. What a sweetheart. 

The new and improved Patch (new because he's new, improved because he's not lost!) has already been so loved. She told him right when she got him that she will take him to Disneyland, but he's not allowed to hide anymore! Good job laying down the law, Shelby. He's already been to our Halloween party, the museum, to the beach, and to the park. All is well. 

And now we have our two spares stashed away, just in case!