I missed that dog. I couldn’t break our bond. On my way back home, I got off the bus at Central Park South and walked into the park, listening to Michael Jackson sing Ben, the best love song ever written about an animal. But instead of “Ben,” I sang along with the word, Rex. I knew Sally’s schedule. She and Rex would be somewhere near the big bronze Alice in Wonderland statue, chitchatting with her dog owner friends, discussing their “children’s” behavior, and comparing notes. Would I be doing the same soon? Only with a human child, not a four-legged one? I guessed I should have joined prenatal classes and discussed breastfeeding options and which was the best brand of diapers. Maybe I’d be coming to this spot myself, watching my child climb on Alice. Unlike most sculptures, children were invited to climb, touch and crawl all over Alice and her friends. In fact, through the decades, thousands of hands and feet had literally polished parts of the statue’s bronze surface completely smooth.
