The other morning, as my dog, “Molly”, and I were nearing the end of our daily constitutional through Riverside Park, I heard a guy calling for his dog. “Max”! “Max”! was his plaintiff cry. I couldn’t see the owner but recognized the dog’s name. “Max” (short for Maxine) and her owner, David, often hung out with Molly and me in the park. David a quiet, sweet, man sounded frantic as he called for his good-natured black and brown mutt. When we crossed paths, I saw panic in his eyes and immediately identified with his sense of dread that his dog had gone missing and I thought to myself: “This is one of a dog owner’s worst nightmares. “Have you seen Max?” he asked with his eyes filled with fear. “No” was all I said. I felt helpless and didn’t know what to do. As Molly and I climbed the stairs out of the park, a woman was holding “Max” by the collar. “Do you know anyone looking for a lost dog?” she said. “Yeah, Hold on for a minute”. I walked to the top of the stairs and called down to him. ” David, David, Max is up here!” David ran to Max, got down on his knees, held her face close to his and swooned, near to tears: ” What happened to you?” As Molly and I walked away we heard the woman say that Max had run across Riverside Drive and was almost hit by a car. I could only imagine David’s feeling a mix of anger and relief. But then I thought: What a lucky coincidence that I knew exactly who was looking for their lost dog and was in the position to re-unite them on the spot. It was my good deed for the day. I gave Molly a pat on the head and her favorite treat was we walked back home. |