CAT-astrophy

Well, it wasn't exactly an earth shattering event, but our cat, Gracen Mercy disappeared some time Monday afternoon. We have been playing outside a lot these recent weeks since the weather has been so nice. When we play outside we tend to leave the doors open since we often travel in and out of the house a lot when we play outside. Gracen always flirts with the line by sticking his head out of the door. This time he really snuck away from us, though. When I left for work on Tuesday morning, I didn't see him anywhere, but just assumed that he was sleeping in one of his many hiding spots. Then Ashley noticed that he wasn't anywhere to be found all day. When we realized the litter box had been dry and his food untouched, then we realized he was gone.
We looked and looked all over for him. We knocked on all the neighbor's doors to let them know what was going on and have them be on full alert. Every evening after work I would take about an hour or so to trot through the woods looking for any kind of sign of him - dead or alive.
Now, we honestly had mixed feelings about this. I mean, we have talked a lot about giving him away because of his antics. But since he disappeared, we haven't been so ready to give him up. Ashley has been having a really hard time with it. I'm not surprised though. Gracen has been with us longer than the kids. It's strange to think that he would be here one day and just gone the next.
Well, today he finally returned home! Our not-so-bright cat turned out to be somewhat intelligent after all - which was a great shock to me. Our neighbor about three doors up is a real animal lover and a school bus driver (I know the two are connected somehow). Gracen appeared on her porch with their kitty to get out of the rain from last night. She caught him and held him over night for us, and delivered him this morning after she dropped off all of her other animals, I mean, schoolkids.
So we are once again reunited with our long-time friend Gracen. The kids are so glad to have him back. I mean, why wouldn't they be? They won't sleep for three hour naps anymore with Gracen around, of course they're excited.
Me? Yeah, I honestly missed him. As much as I give him a hard time, it was not the same without him. I didn't exactly cry when he was gone, but it was awful quiet. It seemed like something was missing. I guess I've gotten used to the little booger.