reunion

One of every pet owners' concerns is always their pet forgetting them when they go away for a long time. When you're a soldier, and the periods of time you spend away are very long, that fear gets amplified. 

We're used to seeing videos of dogs immediately recognizing their soldier owners when they get back from serving that leave us melting from joy. But in this video, for a long terrifying second, our heart almost plummets when we realize that the dog doesn't immediately recognize the soldier, only to be overwhelmed by a palpable feeling of relief when it does recognize her. 

It's a happy ending, and our hearts did indeed melt. The lesson learned from this video has been summed up perfectly by this one youtube commenter: "May take a min, but a best friend will never  forget."

Huston, we have a problem. 

This dog missed her astronaut mommy too much and their reunion is pure joy.  

Christina Koch, the NASA astronaut, returned home this on February 6th after 328 days in space, breaking the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman. When she landed safely, she posted on Twitter: "This journey has been everyone's journey. Thank you to all involved in the success of our mission, and for giving me the opportunity to carry everyone's dreams into space. I'm filled with gratitude to be back on the planet". 

While we are sure many missed her over the past few months, it seems no one missed her more than her adorable dog who welcomed her with so many tail waggings. 

Koch posted a video of the heartwarming reunion, saying she "wasn't sure who was more excited" about it: her or her dog.

Ahhh, the feels! 

Nothing like a reunion video to get the emotions running haywire! Especially a reunion video between a dog and his marine owner! 

And to ensure his human does scurry off again on duty, this doggo has a clever plan... steal the hat! 

Matthew B. and his cat, Ashes, often traveled together travel together in the comfort of his 18-wheeler. Then, one unfortunately truck stop in Ohio, Ashes accidentally slipped out of the truck, got spooked and ran for the brush. 

Matthew was devastated. He searched and searched for Ashes with no luck. He had to continue forth on his route but Matthew re-arranged his routes over the next few months so he could return to that same truck spot and search for Ashes. 

Unbeknownst to Matthew at that time, Ashes was found by a women, Kimberly T., who had been moving from the West Coast to New York. She made a pit stop at the very small truck stop and noticed a thin gray cat emerging from the brush. It was 13 degrees outside and Kimberly told Lollypop, "He was trying to not put his feet down on the ground, it was so cold." 

She decided to take Ashes (who she funnily enough named "Smokey") with her to New York and to the Lollypop Farm.

The Lollypop Farm scanned for a microchip and discovered his owner had him registered under a Texas address that was over 1,465 miles away!

Matthew was finally reunited with Ashes. 

Another story that is the perfect reminder on how important it is to get your beloved pets micro-chipped. 

What a beautiful reunion! 

Sasha, a Portland long-haired black cat, has been reunited with her hooman, Viktor Usov, after being missing for five years! The lost feline was found 1,300 miles away in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

Usov originally adopted Sasha from the Oregon Humane Society about six years ago. Back then, Sasha was sick, had a distended belly protuding from his underside and had a constant runny nose. Usov didn't mind any of that, there was a click between the two, upon first meeting.

And luckily, after adopting Sasha, Usov's mom applied some acupuncture treatments that cleared up Sasha's health issues quickly. 

Usov told OregonLive, "He turned into one of the friendliest cats I've ever met."

Sasha would follow Usov on walks, with their puppy, Tara. One day, Sasha went out for a walk and just didn't return. 

"We waited a week or so," Usov said. "But when we didn't get a call from the Humane Society and no one returned him, we figured a coyote got him. We were upset but we moved on."

Fast forward to just this last week, Usov gets a phone call from an animal shelter in New Mexico -- Sasha was mircochipped! At first, Usov didn't believe it was the same cat, but when the shelter described Sasha's friendly demeanor he just knew. 

According to the shelter in New Mexico, Sasha was particularly happy to be picked-up but appeared healthy and well-fed!

But how did Sasha get all the way to New Mexico? Usov has a theory:

"He went on a grand American adventure," Usov told KGW. "He stopped by the Grand Canyon, Crater Lake, he saw the monuments, all the national parks, definitely Redwood Forest."

Congratulations on the happy reunion, Usov and Sasha! And just a friendly reminder to all the pet owners out there to please microchip your pets!

The cat went missing after moving to another house, and was on the run for 7 months. Thanks to the microchip, he was returned home after someone took him to the vet. The boy's reaction is priceless and the cat is very happy to be home.