Dear Diary:
I attended a funeral Mass in December, at St. Joseph’s Church on East 87th Street, for a homeless man named Jose Perez.
For several years, Mr. Perez had wheeled a shopping cart to a corner on 87th Street near a supermarket. The cart was packed with belongings and, on top of a blanket, was Shorty, a small dog of indeterminate mixture, one part of which was Corgi.
After making a contribution to Mr. Perez’s cup, we’d talk baseball. He was a big Yankee fan and read the sports section of a donated newspaper every day. The relationship was not one-sided. When he learned that my son was a Yankee fan, he gave me a World Series scorecard to send to him.
And once he gave me a beautiful tool, whose parts fit like a little jigsaw puzzle, when I told him I was a retired engineer.
I always gave Shorty a good belly scratching, and when he saw me coming his little tail would wag prestissimo.
Around Thanksgiving, the cart failed to appear. I was worried when a week pased. Then I saw three women at his usual spot, in agitated conversation. From them I learned that Jose Perez had died, and no one knew what had happened to Shorty.
Within days, the area became a kind of shrine. Flowers were tacked to the wall, sympathy cards, handwritten notes of farewell. And an announcement of the Mass on Dec. 22 at St. Joseph’s.
When a neighbor and I arrived, we wondered how many people might attend. We were pleased to see about 30 people on the sidewalk, gathered about Shorty, who was wearing a warm woolen sweater. When he saw me, Shorty came over and let me scratch his ears. Then he went from person to person, greeting every one.
A friend of Jose Perez told me he was taking care of Shorty.
After the service began, I looked around. There were at least 200 mourners. The priest saying the Mass spoke of Christ’s attitude toward the poor, the inheritors of the Earth.
And he interrupted the Mass to go to Shorty in the front pew and pet him fondly.
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