Don’t Forget The Room Key.

In May 2023, on the morning of the fourth leg of our memorial trip in Madison, Wisconsin, we faced an unexpected challenge. It was Faith's first cross-country adventure, and I was a bit wary of how she'd react. While checking out of room 114, I started by carrying my bags to the car parked just outside the door. I hesitated—should I take Faith on her leash, or just close the door behind me, making it look shut but not locked?

I decided to take a chance. I slowly shut the door and ran with my bag toward the car. Suddenly, I heard a slam. Faith wanted to come too; she took a full run at the door, jumped up, and slammed it shut violently. I felt a surge of relief, knowing I had the room key in my pocket and could open the door to get her.

But when I turned the door knob, I pushed my shoulder against the door it had only opened an inch. Faith’s slam had caused the metal lock to shift, allowing the door to open only a couple of inches. There she was, her lovely face poking through, barking as if puzzled about what was wrong.

I ran to the office to explain the situation. The staff member came down to help but couldn’t open the door. They even debated removing the window to get inside. Eventually, maintenance was called and said they’d arrive in 30 minutes. It was past check-out time, and all we could do was wait.

Then I realized—Faith’s leash was still on. Maybe we could lasso the metal lock and pull it back. Holding the leash over the latch, my sister shut the door again, forcing the latch to flip back and unlock. Faith was free!

Since then, I’ve taken two more cross-country trips with Faith, but I’ll always remember the time she locked me out of the room right when I was supposed to be checking out.