Welcome to the brotherhood, Benji

Five years ago, Debbie LaFleur and her husband, Joseph, lost their beloved Yorkshire Terrier named Kingston. 

The spoiled Yorkie enjoyed sitting on a swinging chair on the porch of their Lake Charles, Louisiana, home, loved vanilla ice cream, and even had a tiny miniature navy blue jersey that said “KINGSTON” on the back in white letters. Needless to say, the missing Kingston was very loved.

The couple searched and searched for their boy to no avail, ultimately assuming the tiny dog had either been scooped up by another family or lost forever.

• The couple was understandably devastated. Then tragedy struck Debbie again, when Joseph passed unexpectedly two years later.
• As she grieved the loss of her husband, Debbie received an email that Kingston had been found—half a decade later. The widow thought it was a joke. 

An adventure to rival Homeward Bound… It turns out, Kingston had been on quite the adventure. 

• He showed up 250 miles away at the Kappa Sigma house at the University of Southern Mississippi, and had been adopted by the fraternity brothers as one of their own. They even gave him an honorary induction into the Greek organization👆.
• The young men named the “stray” Benji and spoiled him rotten during his time at the frat house. It wasn’t until one of the brothers brought the dog into the vet for a routine checkup that they discovered he had a microchip with Debbie’s info on it.

The fraternity brothers contacted Debbie as soon as they found out, promising her they would care for Kingston/Benji until she could make the four-hour drive to the school to pick him up.

The reunion: When Debbie walked up to the house earlier this month, Kingston was as ecstatic as ever to see his Mom. And while the fraternity brothers were sad to see their honorary brother go, they were happy to reunite him with his family. 

More than anything, Debbie is grateful to have a piece of her late husband back with her.

• “It has truly helped my grief from losing my husband,” she told the Washington Post ($). “I feel like I have a piece of him back with Kingston.”