September 7, 2017
Volume 47 - No. 35
by Friedrich Gomez
It was an unusually bitter and cold October night in Albany, New York. A most unforgiving night with a chill factor suddenly made worse with rain now pouring down in sheets. The year is 1888 and the blustering winds made the evening unfit for either man or beast, yet, huddled in an alleyway sat a stray Border terrier, cold, hungry, and completely forsaken. Only months old, the small abandoned puppy slowly stood erect, back hunched against the brutal elements, weakened from lack of nourishment and totally confused and not knowing where to go next. Instincts made him move onward, like a vagabond, without reason or rhyme, other than to roam his environs as he often did, in search of shelter, food, and perhaps companionship – none of which he possessed.
The small terrier’s frame zigzagged as the wind and freezing rain propelled him, erratically. He moaned in pain, and occasionally yelped out loud. Miraculously, the pup saw a doorway, partially left open and instinctively moved in that direction. It was the back door to the Albany Post Office that someone had forgotten to secure. That human error was the Border terrier’s good fortune as the lone pup slowly walked inside the dark interior; the smell of canvas mail bags came quickly to his keen sense of smell. Though still weak from hunger, and frightened at his strange surroundings, he was too tired to resist the warm shelter, a rare, warm welcomed respite from the punishing elements outside.
Wagging his small tail, and content to just be safe and warm, the young puppy seemed to love the smell of the mountains of mail bags all about him. The mail bags were too much to resist as his tiny frame crawled atop them and he found himself the perfect bed to lay his small, weary head. But first, he circled twice, as he would throughout his lifetime, and laid his frail form down. His malnourished body was so thin that his ribs protruded outwardly, covered only in skin and fur. There, upon the postal carrier mail bags, the young orphaned puppy slept, perhaps dreaming of the family that had left him behind. Sleep now overcame his exhausted body, erasing the memory of family and the pain of rejection which he, most likely, would never understand.
There, upon the mail bags that comforted him -- and would later define his life -- he fell to deep slumber, his serene sleep interrupted only by an occasional twitching of the limbs and wistful whimpering – as if remembering sunnier days, running and frolicking with the humans he had grown to deeply love. The very humans that would later abandon him.
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There, the orphan puppy slept through the torrential night, content with his meager surroundings.
FINDING A NEW HOME. With the morning sunlight came the postal employees to start their work day. A postal worker named Owen saw the Border terrier first, still asleep atop the mail bags. A dog-lover most his life, Owen felt instant sympathy and love toward the unexpected intruder and showed great compassion by petting, then softly talking, then cradling the trembling animal in his arms.
In no time, all the postal workers fell in love with the stray puppy. He was fed, watered and, perhaps most importantly, showered with unrestrained love and companionship. After a week without being claimed, all the postal workers adopted him. From that moment on, he had a new home with new family about him.
Obituaries Memorials Area Services Page 12
BREAKING THE RULES. The Albany Post Office was, nonetheless, a professional workplace and it took little time for the postal supervisor to inquire about the orphan terrier that his employees were secretly keeping in the back room. The moment of truth had arrived, and the supervisor wanted answers. The postal workers all corroborated that the puppy was initially accepted by employee, Owen, but in essence – they had all adopted him. The postal workers told the supervisor that the dog’s name was Owney, named after their co-worker, Owen, who was the first to see the young terrier. To the supervisor, they further explained that Owney now belonged to all the postal workers, equally, and they begged that the dog be allowed to remain – unnoticed and unseen by public visitors to the post office building.
The supervisor was all-business and the arrangement was highly irregular, to say the least. But, there was something strange and indefinable about Owney’s likability and demeanor and the supervisor wished to get a closer look. That’s all it took.
Owney’s wagging tail and chipper disposition – not to mention – darling cute looks was just, well, too much of an unfair advantage that the pup held, so the supervisor shocked everyone by scooping up the little canine orphan and cuddled him for a precious few moments. He seemed to weigh practically nothing in his arms. The 11-th hour had come and the decision was most unexpected. The stern supervisor knew the rules and he rose to his level of responsibility because he abided by postal regulations, strictly by
Owney, the Postal Dog Continued on Page 2