The Man With The Little White Dog

Written September 21, 08 Audrey Kaminski

In our neighborhood there are a few walkers and joggers and then there was a man who walked a little white dog. He was very friendly and often stopped to let the children pet the dog. When ever Ed was outside working this man would stop to talk to him. I considered him another one of Ed’s many acquaintances. After Ed became sick and passed away I never noticed what was going on around the neighborhood, I was too busy trying to adjust to a big change in my life.

One day as I was washing my car I saw a lady approaching with this little white dog. She came to greet me. I told her I didn’t remember her, but I knew the dog. She smiled and said, “ Yes I know, my husband use to walk this dog”. Then she told me that her husband had passed away in May. She wanted to tell Ed, but she learned that Ed had passed away also. What a sad moment . We were two women in the same situation. Then she went on to say that she was still working, but was considering retirement. I told her that most people in the neighborhood were acquainted with her husband and the dog and we all thought that he must have loved that little dog very much. She explained that he hated that dog, but because he was retired he offered to walk him. How could we all be so wrong?

He was a man with an unpleasant chore, but turned it into a happy one. We will always remember him as a very nice person and the neighborhood will never be the same.