A few weeks ago I told the story of a dog named "Shep." He lived in Ft. Benton Montana in the 30s. He'd follow his owner to the train station and wait there for days for him to return from trips.
One day the owner passed away. Shep followed as his friends took his coffin down to the train station and put it on the train, which took him back east to be buried.
For the rest of his life, Shep waited for his owner to return. One day, slowed by age, Shep was unable to dodge a train and was killed. The community honored Shep with a burial and a memorial. The original memorial was made of wood and eventually decayed as was torn down, and a new one was built.
Yesterday, I got this very cool email from Steph, who listens to our show.
Hi Dave, Steve, and Falen,
My boyfriend, Kent, and I are road tripping from Hopkins, MN to Bellingham, WA for Kent's brother's wedding. We made a stop in Montana on the way so we could visit his family and I could see where he spent his summers as a kid.
This morning he told me he wanted to take me to a cute little town where he and his family would stop on the way to visit his great-grandma. Imagine my surprise when I stepped out of the car and came face-to-face with the memorial statue for Shep, the dog that loyally waited for years at the train station for his owner to come home!
Kent didn't hear you talking about Shep but I did and as a dog-owner his story brought tears to my eyes. I immediately ran over to the statue to take the attached picture of our dog, Rufus, saying hi to Shep! It was such a crazy coincidence that I just had to share.
Dave - I also noticed that the benches and tables on the local bridge were installed as part of an Eagle Scout project. It made me think of you so I attached some pictures of those as well.
Thanks for making me laugh every day and happy anniversary, Dave! I've been listening for nearly 20 of your 25 years on KDWB.
All the Best,
Steph