By my side, as always, was my dog. For the past several weeks she had been getting weaker. That night, as the storm raged, her condition worsened. By the time the storm was over at 7am, my companion of thirteen years, was gone. Now some of you may say, it was only a dog, but she was my only child. I treated and cared for her as a child, and I was empty without her. Over the years I've interviewed several families who have lost children, here is just one of their stories:

Anthony and his wife Gina came to this country from Italy in the 1940's. They came to America to make a better life for themselves, and to start a family. They had three children, Tony Jr., Gina, and John. John was the youngest of the three and the most family oriented. John was a project engineer and was on the town's volunteer fire department's dive rescue team. Tony Sr. told me, "He's a good boy, always helping people". On a cold night in February, that's just what he did.

It was around 6pm when headquarters called and said that they had a missing child that had fallen through the ice on the town's lake. He told his Captain that the family had just sat down to dinner, and he had had a long day, and was very tired and hung up. As he sat down at the table, he saw his children's faces, and just couldn't imagined what the little boy's family was going through. He thought a moment, got up from the table, got his gear, gave his wife a kiss and left. As far as what happened next, Tony told me, John arrived at the scene around 6:45, suited up, and went under the ice with his diving buddy. About ten minutes later his diving buddy, came up with the little boy. As they rushed the child to the hospital, they looked around, but John was nowhere to be found. An intense search for him was now underway. As the night went on, more and more family and friends gathered hoping for the best. But the search was in vane.

I talked to his best friend Nick, who stayed at the scene all night waiting for his friend to resurface. He never did. His body was located some twelve hours later, just twenty feet from the opening he went into. Nick also told me that "John had no problem sacrificing himself to save a life."

Tony Sr. told me something that I will never ever forget, he said, "Parents should never outlive their children" I will always remember those words, from a father who was very proud of his son. With tears in his eyes and his broken English, Tony told me, "The real kick in the @ss of that night was that little boy, the divers pulled from the water, died on the way to the hospital.

I'll never forget that story Tony told me, and at his funeral, Gina told me that Tony was calling for John the day he died, and said he'd finally be able to see his Son again.

Email Artie Kutsumitis: kpgnews@msn.com

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