When girl leaves stuffed animal at hotel, staff sends pictures to show what it’s been doing
āWith everything coronavirus 24/7, I thought people might enjoy hearing about the adventures of Ruff Ruff,ā Allison Kuykendall said of her family’s recent adventure.
She and her husband Kristofer were on their way back home from a road trip to Oak Hill, Virginia for their kids’ soccer tournament when their youngest daughter Juniper realized that her stuffed dog had been left behind at the Hilton DoubleTree Midlothian in Richmond.
The 2-year-old was understandably beside herself since she was rarely without her comfort toy. Mom, too, was upset that she forgot to double-check to be sure they had Ruff Ruff.
Juniper has had the dog since she was a newborn; it was gifted to her when she spent 10 weeks in the NICU upon being born 10 weeks early. She’s rarely let it go since she’s taken her first steps.
When the family returned home from their trip, Kuykendall called the hotel to see if they could look for the little dog and perhaps return it.
When she heard back from the desk clerk the next morning, she was relieved to hear that Ruff Ruff had been located in the lost and found and that he would be making the trip back to his family in the mail within days.
In the meantime, Ruff Ruff had quite an adventure.
When he showed up in the mail 3 days later in a package addressed to Juniper, she and her three older sisters gathered round for the reunion. But there was more than just a stuffed dog inside the box.
According to The Washington Post, “Inside, nestled next to Ruff Ruff, they found a tin of chocolate chip cookies, a note, and five enlarged photos showing how Juniperās stuffed dog had spent his solo vacation at the Doubletree.”
The note read:
āDear Juniper, thanks for letting us borrow Ruff Ruff for a day! He was such a big help around the hotel. Donāt worry, he didnāt work too hard and we gave him plenty of playtime! Heās missed you so much! Thanks again, and hope you and Ruff Ruff visit us again soon! Love, Doubletree Team.ā
The photos of Ruff Ruff were taken by the hotel’s front-desk clerk Jesse Aguila. To make the toddler feel better about their time spent apart, she and her colleagues made it look like the stuffed pup had been on a little vacation.
They showed Ruff Ruff hanging out at the hotel swimming pool, talking on the phone, browsing the Internet, and taking advantage of a king-size bed.
āJuniper couldnāt stop laughing as she looked at the pictures,ā said Kuykendall. āThe love and care they put into doing this is incredible. A lot of times, when kids lose their toys or stuffed animals at a hotel, they might never see them again.ā
Kuykendall shared the photos of the wonderful surprise on her Facebook page in a post that quickly went viral and has been shared over 50,000 times in just 3 weeks. (Of course, it helps that she is a professional photographer and her own photos of her family are absolutely beautiful.)
With the family secure in their home along with the rest of the country during to SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the mom wanted to share something on the light side.
“I wanted to do something to cheer people up, and it seems to have worked,” she said. “People started sharing it almost immediately.”
Be sure to scroll down below to see Kuykendall’s post and the happy reunion.
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Source: Allison Kuykendall via Facebook, The Washington Post