I received a call on my cell phone around 3 p.m. from an out-of-state area code. A young man, Nick, asked if I owned a dog named Sadie. I was at work and couldn't imagine why my dog was out of the house. He explained he was somewhere in the Squirrel Hill/Shadyside area with Sadie.

I was planning to leave my office to pick her up and asked if he could give me an address. It turned out he was in front of my house. I made a call to the house to see if my partner was home or if our friend was there working on the house, and they were, but hadn't known Sadie had run away.

I called Nick back to thank him after I learned Sadie was safe and back in the house. Nick then mentioned it wasn't just his efforts that got Sadie home but that 10-15 people could have been involved.

As I was on the phone with Nick, a neighbor left a voice message. He called to tell me another neighbor came to see if he had a way to reach us, because she thought our dog was running loose. I returned his call and thanked him as well.

Later that night we went to our neighbor's house to give her a personal thank you for her part in saving our dog. She explained to us that many, many people were involved in Sadie's rescue. Perfect strangers banded together throughout the streets of Squirrel Hill for about a half-hour on a Thursday afternoon to rescue our dog.

People followed Sadie on foot and in cars. A mother/daughter team joined the group. A man passing by saw the group and went home to get his dog to entice Sadie to come to his dog. Someone gave the group a piece of bread; dog walkers passed by and offered help. Another neighbor offered to make a leash.

Collectively these wonderful people chased our dog all the way back to our home, where she finally surrendered so someone could catch her. We want to thank all of the kind and generous people who helped rescue and save our dog from what could have been a tragic ending. She slept like a baby that night.

DOLORES INNAMORATO

Squirrel Hill

My 9-year-old daughter received a $25 dollar American Express gift card for Christmas. On Martin Luther King Day, after careful thought, she decided that she really wanted to see a movie, "The Lovely Bones." (Obviously, I have to go too, and she wanted to treat me.)

We arrived at the theater and were told that American Express is not accepted. The staff was professional, but it was beyond their control. We stepped aside in the line, trying to decide our game plan. I asked for a phone book to see if another theater accepted the card. Tickets are only $5 each on Mondays, but I only had about $7 cash with me.

The lovely woman who had been behind us had overheard our dilemma. She came back after purchasing her tickets and offered us a $10 bill to purchase our tickets.

I was surprised and reluctant, but she insisted and told us to enjoy. I even offered to buy her popcorn, but she refused. So we watched this riveting and beautiful movie. As it turns out, the theater included a free bag of popcorn with each ticket! What a lucky and special day.

I will definitely extend a hand to someone else on a better day in honor of someone making our day special.

KATY LLOYD

Shaler

Before major surgery, I cashed a check for $300 in order to have available funds in case a neighbor had to pick up supplies for me. A week after the surgery, I met a good friend to walk to the South Hills Village mall for recovery exercise.

On the way to the mall exit I took my car keys out of my pocket, and in the process dropped my magnetic money clip holding my cash. Upon arriving home, I sadly discovered the loss of my cash, but initially thought there was no chance of recovering it.

Several hours later I called mall security and was put on the phone with another customer at the exact time she was attempting to turn in my found money. She insisted on waiting for me to return, since she had found money once previously and it had never been returned to the owner.

When I arrived to retrieve my cash, she and her mother refused my offer of a reward for her kindness and honesty. God bless the Good Samaritans.

BILL BAILEY

McMurray

First Published: January 28, 2010, 10:00 a.m.