Writing Assignment That Broke My Heart

On Tuesday of this week our oldest had a writing assignment to do.  Not a bid deal, right?  That's what I thought.  She was given the assignment of writing free verse.  She's pretty good at writing so I didn't give it another thought until she handed it to me to check over. 

here it is:

Gone Forever
It was the Fourth of July,
we went to my aunts house.
We probably shouldn't have gone
but how were we to know
what happened later.
We came home,
and we knew
something was wrong.
Dad checked the house,
but nothing was gone,
nothing was broken,
and nothing was moved.
So he moved to the backyard,
there he found the source
of our unease.
Our beloved dog, Simba, was gone.
We searched for weeks,
possibly a few months,
but Simba was gone.

Gone Forever.

I was bawling by the time I was done reading.  The truth is, I have never quit looking for Simba.  She was my baby before I could have babies.  She is still missed.