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The yellow Lab of Texas
Star, a Labrador retriever, 'lights the darkness'
for New Jersey family devastated by WTC tragedy
By Debra Palmieri
dpalmieri@tnonline.com
Stories of tragedy and triumph have dominated television and radio
broadcasts and filled page after page of newsprint in the wake of the Sept.
11 terrorist attacks on this nation. Journalists sought out the human
connection to that day's events and have told myriad stories of both the
heroes and the depraved.
In the 1960s, an experiment performed by social psychologist Stanley Milgram
indicated that each person on this Earth is separated from another by a mere
six degrees (or so) of mutual acquaintance. These "six degrees of
separation," as the phenomenon soon became known, have become even closer
today through a world made smaller via the Internet and email.
It is these "six degrees" of human connection, which in this story begins
with the devastation of the World Trade Center in New York City and has ties
to Texas and the Lehigh Valley, that ultimately ends this tale of Star, a
yellow Labrador Retriever, who following Sept. 11, found a home and her
destiny with a young family in New Jersey.
Degree One:
Within a few weeks of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Pat
Dickinson and her 3-year-old yellow Labrador, Kate, were in New York City at
the behest of the American Red Cross, assisting mental health counselors at
Pier 94, visiting police and firefighters at rest stations and accompanying
family members to Ground Zero.
Pat, a dog handler working with the Hope Crisis and Response Team from
Eugene, Ore., is a member of the Delta Society, a group whose mission is to
improve human health through the use of therapy animals.
Kate, also known as Coulee Creek's Katy-Did-It, is a certified Delta Society
Pet Partner with advanced Animal Assisted Crisis Response training. Her job
was to provide emotional support and comfort for the rescuers and the
families of victims of the Sept. 11 tragedy.
The pair accompanied family members on a ferry from the Family Assistance
Center at Pier 94 to Ground Zero in an effort to provide some closure by
visiting the site of the attacks.
It was on one of these ferry trips that Shirley Rossado of Fords, N.J., and
her sister, Blanca Stahlman of Holmdel, N.J., met Kate and Pat. Blanca's
husband, Eric, 43, was one of the 700 workers at Cantor Fitzgerald, on the
105th floor of Tower 1 of the WTC, who would not return home again.
Degree Two:
On Oct. 2, Shirley emailed Chuck and Mary Anne Roland, the owners of Coulee
Creek Labs in Maud, Texas, telling them of the meeting with Pat and Kate on
the ferry.
"Your dog [Kate was bred at Coulee Creek] was at the Center to help us all
deal with our grief...," wrote Shirley. "...On the ferry trip to the
financial center, this dog picked up that my sister was extremely sad and
she proceeded to make her smile with her warmth and love."
Shirley asked if Chuck and Mary Anne had any pups or a calm, older dog
available for Blanca and her two children, Jacob, 4, and Allison, 7.
"My sister fell in love with the yellow Lab on the ferry," wrote Shirley.
"...Animals can do wonders for people..."
Degree Three:
The Rolands reply that they have a 3-year-old Lab with a "very, loving,
attentive disposition." Coulee Creek's Water Witch, known as Pooh, would
soon be on her way to Blanca and the children.
"Your story has deeply touched our hearts and we will be proud to donate one
of our Labs to your sister and children," Chuck and Mary Anne respond. "We
can send her as soon as the airlines permit."
They also send Shirley's original email to everyone on the Coulee Creek
Family mailing list of Lab owners. Offers of donations to help pay for the
dog pour in from across the country.
On Oct. 11, the first month anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Shirley
emails the Rolands, thanking them for their help.
"We, Blanca, Allison, Jacob and Shirley, would like to express our sincere
gratitude for all that you have done for us. On Sept, 11, 2001, Allison,
Jacob and Blanca's world was changed forever. Eric, a person with a heart of
gold, worked for the company Cantor Fitzgerald, 105th floor.
"The last time my sister heard from him was at 8:15 that morning to wish
Allie and Jacob a good day. At 8:45 a.m., Tower 1 was hit. My sister was
dropping off the kids for school while she heard the news on the radio...
"...All of you have given us a renewed hope in mankind and we now have a new
extended family...I know that Eric is up in heaven looking down upon us and
he is saying from up above 'Thank you for caring for my children.'"
Chuck, who is quadriplegic from a 1999 car accident, has personally
experienced both tragedy and the kindness of strangers. Following the
accident, he and Mary Anne almost quit breeding Labs because he was unable
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