This is just TOO cool! People can be SO kind. In a world of so much meaness, there really are some very wonderful people.
Monday, August 01, 2005. By Wade Malcolm, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Bleary-eyed, Jenny Webster steered to the side of the road, hoping a stroll around the car would shake the sleepiness from her system. Her eyes, accustomed to an entire night of driving, strained in the morning sun."I could just feel them getting heavy," she said. But she kept going. Sleep deprivation wasn't the first obstacle in this dog relay. Nor would it be the last in a volunteer group's mission to get Labrador retrievers Daisy and Trikzy from McDonald to Phoenix, where they will be reunited with Joshua Kuehn, an autistic boy who counts on the two for the comfort he will need in his new home.Thanks to their efforts, the two pooches were safely sleeping off their arduous journey in their new home as of 8:30 a.m. yesterday, according to Jeff Kuehn, who moved to Phoenix for a new job as a security guard.Josh and his mother, Kathleen, will join the family when they fly toArizona Thursday afternoon, still floating sky-high from all the kindness of volunteers.The trip didn't exactly go off without a hitch, though.When the Kuehns learned airlines wouldn't transport the dogs for fear they wouldn't survive the muggy cargo hold, they figured they'd have to turn the dogs over to a shelter. They sent an e-mail over AutismLink, an online support group from families with autistic children, searching fora good home for adoption.Webster saw the e-mail and had another idea: Let's get them to Arizona.She rounded up volunteers and people who were willing to donate money tothe cause. They would pass the dogs off like a baton, each person takingup a chunk of the driving, until they finally reached Jeff Kuehn waiting in Albuquerque, N.M."I had the time to do it. It needed to be done," said Webster, the mother of an autistic child who coordinated the effort and drove from Butler County to Elk City, Okla.It sounded easy enough. Then Daisy got a case of "cage rage" when one volunteer, with whom the dog was comfortable, passed her along to Webster. A local veterinarian gave the dog tranquilizers. But the voyage had already been set back several hours.So Webster decided to abandon her plans to stop at a friend's house inMissouri, and drive straight through, meeting volunteer Jen Engle around 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Six hours later, in New Mexico, Jeff Kuehn couldn't understand why his car kept stalling. He needed the help of a man with truck and tow rope to reach the diner where he met Engle.His car sputtered and stalled throughout the drive, until he reached a truck stop and got help.A driver there, who had heard his story, offered him help, telling him to spray starter fluid into his carburetor if it gave him any more trouble. It was one more person in a long list of individuals that made the long, difficult process.It has left the Kuehns overcome with emotion."The people I've come across this past week are just amazing," said JeffKuehn, his voice starting to tremble. "In today's age you don't see thatenough anymore ---- people going out of their way to help someone they've never even met.