Hobbes, a plush tiger, had an awesome adventure when his owner accidentally left him at Tampa International Airport.
Owen Lake, a 6-year-old boy, lost his favorite toy while traveling with his family from Tampa to Houston on June 6. Owen’s mom quickly contacted the airport, and soon the janitorial staff discovered the cherished toy near the kids’ play zone.
“We don’t always rush to find a lost item, but it sounded like Hobbes played an important role in Owen’s life,” Tony D’Auito, Airport Operations Center Manager, said.
When Hobbes ended up with D’Auito, he remembered reading a story a few months back about a museum in England that took a lost stuffed animal on a photo shoot.
It seemed like the team enjoyed working on the project, so D’Auito suggested the idea to his colleagues, and they all agreed to it.
And thus, Hobbes traveled around extensively. He visited an airport ticket counter, kept an eye on air traffic control, exercised at the staff gym, enjoyed some gelato, and even went for a ride on a luggage cart.
“It felt a little awkward being a grown man walking around with this stuffed animal, but people were so excited to help out,” D’Auito said. “They took ownership and got creative in ways I couldn’t have.”
D’Auito felt really inspired by the airport staff’s creativity. When he got home that night, he gathered the photos and made a book out of them. He also wrote captions to make a storyline.
The day after, he got it from Walgreens, and when the family got back to Tampa on June 11th, Hobbes had the special scrapbook of the toy’s adventure ready and waiting.
Owen arrived at the lost and found spot, excited to find Hobbes again, without knowing he was about to be pleasantly surprised.
After giving his friend a hug, Owen grinned widely as he flipped through the book, while his mom shed tears of joy.