Sad News and a Phone Call I never Made

There are times when you regret not getting around to doing something: making a phone call, writing an email, runnin an errand, and then it's too late. My intention to phone Arieh Shmidt since I got home with Suki was one of these instances. Yesterday I read that Arieh had died suddenly at the age of 60.

Arieh Shmidt z"l became blind very suddenly and was given a guide dog named Alvin from Beit Oved. He then became an exemplary figure in the guide dog world, and was a crusader in the war of making people aware of guide dogs and the needs of blind people in Israel who use them. His name was often mentioned often at Beit Oved, always connected with some story or other, dynamic or humorous, or in talking about people who are at the front lines of the campaign that every one of us who has a guide dog is involved.

I didn't know Arieh well, but my son Itai gave me his phone number last spring when I announced that I was applying for a guide dog. I spoke with Arieh once or twice on the phone and he quipped, "Before, no one wanted to talk to me on the train. Now everyone dotn't want to talk to me either, they just want to know if they can pet my dog." Arieh reported that his dog has changed his life, that I should train with Ami, that I would definitely be given a dog, and that I should get a dog as soon as I could. He was assertive and encouraging. I had meant to call him, to tell him I have Suki, and perhaps to arrange a meeting. Now it's too late.

Arieh has left a wonderful legacy: a column on Walla in Hebrew entitled עובד כמו כלב (Working LIke a Dog) in which he tells of his life with Elvin much as this blog tells of my life with Suki.






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