Farewell: Seeing Eye calls Xante to duty
Newspaper people love a good party, but this one was bittersweet. It was Xante's "Last Day Par-Tay" and the guest of honor had a rockin' good time. The other guests, not so much.
Xante's "co-workers" at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette expect we will never see him again.
Xante (pronounced ZAN-tee) has been called up to active duty at Seeing Eye Inc. He was bred by that organization to fulfill its mission: "to enhance the independence, dignity and self-confidence of blind people." Since 1929, more than 15,000 Seeing Eye dogs have led the blind.
How did we say goodbye to the beautiful golden retriever we've known since he was 7 weeks old?
If some of us had lumps in our throats or were fighting back tears, we put on a good show, cheering and applauding when Xante ran into the newsroom. With bright eyes and wagging tail, Xante individually greeted everyone standing close to the two large sheet cakes.
For the first time in his 18-month life, Xante tasted yellow cake and vanilla icing. He clearly loved it and kept casting longing looks at the table, hoping for more.
Xante has starred on the PG Puppy Cam. He has nearly 1,500 friends on Facebook. Feb. 8 was Xante Day in Pittsburgh by proclamation of City Council. Fans have donated more than $2,000 in his name to Seeing Eye.
"I have never seen anyone or anything that has boosted morale at the PG as Xante has," said Pete Zapadka, Xante's Facebook editor. "Never has saying goodbye been so 'ruff.'"
He came to work at the PG with Joan Ardisson, assistant to the publisher and editor-in-chief, John Robinson Block. Ms. Ardisson raised him and loved him, always knowing she would give him up when he was 12 to 18 months old.
Many people thanked Ms. Ardisson for bringing Xante into our newsroom. She thanked co-workers for helping with Xante's socialization.
Only 50 percent of the puppies will meet the rigorous requirements of Seeing Eye.
"As much as I will miss him, I really hope he makes it," Ms. Ardisson said. If he "flunks" she'll get him back.
Xante was happy at the party, but what happens when he leaves the people he loves? What will life be like in Morristown, N.J.?
"It's usually an easy transition for the dogs," said Peggy Gibbon, director of canine development. She's been at Seeing Eye for 28 years, where she started as a trainer.
"These are confident and secure dogs" because of their breeding and because of the conscientious people who raised them, she said.
Saying Goodbye To Coworkers - News
"Never has saying goodbye been so 'ruff.'" He came to work at the PG with Joan Ardisson, assistant to the publisher and editor-in-chief, John Robinson Block. Ms. Ardisson raised him and loved him, always knowing she would give him up when he was 12 to
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Saying Goodbye to Friends & Coworkers (Jonathan Hawkins)
Four really great writers and super people are leaving our Communications Technical Docs Team..
Doreen Kasson - Super-sweet mother of two.. She and I been working around Comms for nearly 10 yrs. Nancy Cheney - She's been managing out Communications Documentation Team. Bonnie Quigg - She's been a great writer for our Calendar Server product. Shami Kini - Our Doc writer working from Los AngelesAlso saying good bye to another friend from our Portal Server Team is Wayne Gifford. He and I been finding ourselves in strange places around the world. Never going to forget sharing a dinner with him at a Tibet Restaurant in Beijing. He's a lot of fun.
These are great people.. I'm sure the industry (and the world) is going to benefit from having them available to work on some really great products.
Cheers! God Bless!
Jon
Wow, thanks Jonathan! And thank you for all your help and support of our team throughout the years. There are times when we have wanted to just take your blogs and simply convert them into "official" product docs. I wasn't kidding when I said that they'd want to recruit you to do some writing for the team now.
Keep in touch!
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