First of all, we wanted to wish all of you out there a Happy Thanksgiving. We know that a lot of our readers come to us with difficult family situations they’re trying to resolve. For those of you encountering this blog for the first time, you might be gathering information with plans to move forward with a divorce in the New Year. We encourage you, first of all, to enjoy this time – especially with your children, if you have them. We’ll be here through the holiday season and into 2020 to help you through your situation.
We have a really heartwarming story to share involving Lorelle Dalmolin, our Senior Lead Paralegal and Case Manager. At this start of this month, she lost her beloved dog Pippin, and thought she’d perhaps lost him forever. He’d run out of her yard, and typically when he does that, he either comes back or goes to a few familiar spots in the neighborhood that they both know. But when she couldn’t find him, and he didn’t come back on a really cold night, she feared the worst.
Lorelle is the sole managing conservator of her grandson, Hergrandson and Pippin are absolutely inseparable, and he was, of course, inconsolable about losing Pippin. One day passed, then two, then three. Lorelle checked in with the pound daily and looked throughout the neighborhood, but there was no sign of him.
Finally, six days after he went missing, Lorelle got a call on her cell phone that said “No Caller ID.” She picked it up, and on the other line was Officer Yvonne Mauricio of the San Antonio Police Department. When Officer Mauricio asked Lorelle if she was missing a dog, Lorelle thought it was a confirmation of the bad news she’d been fearing. But it wasn’t! The dog was safe and in police custody. Lorelle couldn’t pick him up initially because, Officer Mauricio believed it was an unsafe environment. However, Officer
As Lorelle was able to piece it together, a young woman had been driving through her neighborhood and happened upon Pippin, enticed the dog to enter her car, and then drove off with the intention of keeping him. But the young woman got in a car accident in another part of town, was obviously high when officers came onto the scene. They noticed Pippin in the car with his collar and tags removed … but still in the car.
It was a joyous reunion for Pippin and Lorelle’s grandson; in fact, Pippin stayed in bed with him the first two days he was back, happy to be with his favorite human. Lorelle noted, of the experience, “The fact that the Police found him, made an effort to find his owner, and then made the effort to deliver him to his family is just amazing to me.” She also notes the Officer didn’t just drop Pippin off and leave; but made sure that Pippin knew Lorelle and that Pippin was comfortable being with her.
While it was a heart-wrenching week for Lorelle, it provided good reminders of a few different things we should all take to heart. Obviously, the first lesson involves treasuring those who are near and dear to us and that includes pets. In fact, we encourage clients with pets who are in the midst of a divorce, to factor their pets into the decree, since they are members of the family and since children especially will want to know the new rules around being with their beloved pets.
And as it is Thanksgiving week, we want to let the public service folks in our community who are looking after our needs and keeping us safe, know that we are thankful for them. The many folks who often go the extra mile to bring families (including pets) back together again.