Guardian Angels

Last year, during Cameron's school discount card fundraiser, he sold a ton of cards sitting in front of the Gearhart Post Office and accosting people as they were taking care of postal business. He was very successful, so we decided to try it again this year....
It was a warm, sunny St. Patrick's Day and a perfect day to be outside. Pretty soon, a random dog wandered over - as often happens in Gearhart. He was very big, and looked like a rottweiler to me, but fluffier. I checked his tag to see his name and he seemed very friendly. He hung around for about a half hour - the post office lady came out to check his tags and call his owner to come get him. He wasn't very good at personal space.

After a few pets I tried my best to keep the kids away from him, but they weren't listening well and lots of people were wanting to visit - you know how when you're in the grocery store and someone's talking to you and your kids choose that moment to be on their worst behavior and it's all you can do to not bite the kids head off right in front of the friendly person? That's what was happening and it turned out to be a recipe for disaster. Note to self: in the future, just bite the kids' heads off no matter who is listening - it keeps them safer. Anyway, while this sweet ninety-something year old woman was telling me all about how she raised her 5 kids I heard a heart stopping bark/growl and turned to see that huge dog's mouth on Elie's face and head.

That moment - one of the worst of my life so far.

I don't know how many of my friends/family read this - and I don't know how many that do have heard about the recent death of a 4 year old girl in our county by the family dog. Having that thought in the back of my mind as I rushed over to Elie made me more scared than I've ever been. Blood started dripping down her face from somewhere in her hair and she was screaming a terrified scream. The post office lady brought out some peroxide and she and the 90 year old lady helped me clean her off and calm her down so we could see the damage. By the grace of God, it wasn't so bad. Oh my God, it could have been so bad. Where he had her it could have been an eye or a bad scar or any number of things. Thank the Lord it wasn't - Elie's guardian angel was watching over her big time yesterday.

I took the kids home and had forgotten that Lucky the Leprechaun had surprises in store for them when we got there. It was actually a great distraction and they were super cute as they discovered all their treasures and "proof" as Cameron called it. It made Elie stop crying, so that was the best part.

Bethany stopped by next and insisted I call the police or she would. Sometimes I can be afraid of confrontation to a fault. She was right and I knew it - so I called. After all is said and done, the chief of police found out who the dog belonged to (the post office lady knew) and has already quarantined the dog for 10 days in a kennel and the owner has been notified of what happened. He also said the owner will pay our medical expenses (Elie's doc made me take her to the ER when I talked to him just to be safe) otherwise the chief will fine him.

So, now that Elie's for sure OK, and my nerves have calmed a bit I can just be thankful - so, so thankful this story has a good ending. I'm one of the very lucky parents that can call this whole episode a good lesson for my kids to be more wary of dogs - especially ones they don't know.