For as long as I have been a kennelmiester, or kennel manager, there were always other dogs in the kennel that were prettier and more energetic then Gabrina Bilenky-- even as a puppy she was plaqued by skin problems and ear infections that made her fur fall out and made her smell funny. She seemed older than her years but that never detracted from her sweet personality and loving, devoted ways.

Now that she was 14 years old, Gabrina, or Gabby, still had her share of health problems. Adding to the skin maladies and ear problems she had a slight limp from arthritis, had lost most of her teeth and what she had lost in fur she made up for in skin tags and moles. Gabby was quite a sight. "One mole for every year on this earth," her owner, Sue, always laughed. And while it was a hard truth that the moles and smells made for an odd appearance, Gabby's eyes were still as alert and clear as they had been when she was a puppy.

It was those eyes and her sweet tempermant that made Gabby so endearing. Gabby was a sight to see too, with her tiny toy, her beloved skunk baby. This was a small toy that had been coming to the kennel with her since her puppy years and the only time she didn't have it in her mouth was when she was eating. And age certainly hadn't done anything to lessen her appetite. Even when she was waiting for her bowl to be placed down in her run, she held skunk baby in her toothless mouth and dropped it only when it was time to chow down. Coming and going to the kennel, going in and coming out of her walks, snuggling up for bed--skunk baby was always with Gabby. And as beat up looking as Gabby was too---skunk baby had no eyes, or ears or feet and he was  threadbare except for where a kaleidoscope of purple, pink, blue and green stitches held the tail on.

Skunk baby's tail was hanging on by a thread and Gabby's tail never stopped wagging.  She was in such a perpetual state of happiness that she even wagged her tail when she was sleeping. Walking by her run and looking in on her, I would struggle not to laugh out loud so as not to wake her up but it was impossible not to.  There would be Gabby, all snuggled up with skunk baby, snoring loudly and her bald little tail would be wagging as if she were seeing her owner walking through the door!! I would laugh and she would be up immediately with skunk baby in her mouth, tail wagging eyes bright and eager.

Occasionally,  Gabby would drop skunk baby, especially when she was really excited and let out the funniest bark/howl I ever heard come out of a dog! Sue and I liked to call it "Gabby's Giggling Howl" --it sounded like a toy train whistle with hiccups and when I heard it I would always laugh and call out, "I'm coming I'm coming Gabby--hang on" and rush to her run door to put down her breakfast or dinner.

No matter what type of day I was having, Gabby always made me smile.

On one recent morning in early fall, I was particularly happy to be feeding Gabby. She was content and eating breakfast, and I couldn't help but to lean down and pat her little moley head." I am so happy to have you back in the kennel--so happy to have your owner back too."

My happiness faded somewhat as the memory of that other September morning brought with it so many feelings of loss and sadness. Everyone I knew had been touched by it and the losses were devastating. As I looked at Gabby, images of that day flooded my mind and I shook my head as if to shake out those images. So many people had never made it home to their families, to their pets to all the things that make this life worth living. And that day began just like this one did, with a happy kennel eating breakfast.

That September morning had been like thousands of other mornings at the kennel. As I went about the business of cleaning my small facility, the sun was streaming down through the skylights, highlighting little pieces of dust and dog hair that floated on the late summer breeze wafting  in through the open run doors. Instead of getting annoyed at the idea that there was dust and hair afloat in my normally immaculate kennel, the sounds of a happy kennel and a happy world melted away my concerns about a clean kennel. Healthy dogs were sliding bowls around looking for every last morsel of food, birds were gleefully chirping away in the trees outside, while  two family dogs boarding in the same run were wrestling, snorting and grunting at each other in their enthusiasm.

September 11, 2001 began as a beautiful day.

Never for one second did I imagine, while I picked up dog bowls and shook out bedding,, how the world would change forever in just a few short hours.