Losing a pet is never easy, but it’s especially difficult now. Some people’s one and only Christmas wish is to bring their pet home for the holidays. However, for one family, that wish was granted thanks to an unexpected “Christmas miracle” that followed an adoption event.

A dog named Gertie was adopted by the Pasadena Animal Shelter in June. Gertie was one of their longest-staying canines because for reasons they couldn’t fathom, no one wanted to adopt her. The shelter posted on Facebook that “none of us could fathom why she was with us for such a long time.” She was a complete sweetheart who adored everyone and had a great smile on her face whenever she saw you.

Gertie was one of the featured available canines at the shelter’s adoption event earlier this month, which was held at Texas Roadhouse. The shelter thought Gertie would finally discover the ideal residence. She indeed did, just not in the way they had anticipated.

An attendee who was a preacher saw Gertie and thought he recognized the dog. He came to the conclusion that it might be the lost dog of the Aldape family, members of his church. The family immediately arrived after the pastor called and confirmed that Gertie was really their lost dog!

In reality, “Gertie” was a long-lost dog by the name of Cookie, who vanished in June 2021.

Owner Berenice Aldape told the Houston Chronicle, “We looked for her everywhere, and I went to every house in our neighborhood. We distributed flyers, photos, and I yelled out her name, “Cookie, Cookie where are you?” It appeared as though she had vanished entirely.

The family’s hearts were broken when the dog vanished; although Berenice said she had given her son a kitten, he still yearned greatly for his dog. When she came, she realized the dog in the shelter was her own lost pet even though she had given up hope of ever seeing Cookie again.

She told the Chronicle, “I said, ‘Give me paw,’ and when she did, I knew this was Cookie.

Even if we had plenty of money and purchased the most expensive gifts, she continued, “we couldn’t buy what Cookie means to us. We don’t have a lot of money for expensive presents.” We really had a Christmas miracle with this.

The shelter experienced a great ending as well. Gertie/Cookie  struggled to find ahome for months was eventually explained by the fact that she already had one waiting for her.

The Chronicle was told by Jennifer Laird, the shelter’s marketing director, that “it turns out, it might have been meant to be.”