Aileen Hurley was a very special woman. She was an NYPD detective. She loved animals. She was smart, friendly, vibrant, fun, had a terrific husband and many wonderful friends. Aileen died in October of 2007.
We were visited several months ago by a group of Aileen’s friends. They wanted to organize a walk in honor of Aileen with the proceeds going to Pets Alive. A lot of people come in and out of our office in any given week, and they are all special. But I sensed something extra special with this group.

I got to know many of them over the next few months as the event took shape and they came to Pets Alive to lend a hand. They were organized, effective, and friendly. They tackled a bunch of stuff that had needed to be done for a long time, and did some things I still can’t believe got done, like moving a shed across the street and down the driveway. From what I hear it was an interesting experience.
They were a presence at Pets Alive, and they were here to honor Aileen.
And her friends are just nice, friendly, caring people. Alieen’s friends Tootie and Mac even adopted a puppy from us.
Duane and Maggie are a great couple too. We can’t wait for Duane to retire. Have a feeling we’ll see a lot more of him. Jack, Pat, Ray, Arthur, Jill, Sharon …they’ve all helped us and touched us in a lot of ways. They’ve all made a difference to the animals here.
There was a poster in the kennel for the walk. There’s a button with Aileen’s picture on it hanging on the cork board in our office. On the button she’s got some funny sunglasses on and she’s laughing. I got to know Aileen through her friends and her husband, and she laughed a lot.
It’s amazing how many lives one life touches, how many lives are changed through our presence and even our absence.
The first annual Aileen Hurley Memorial Walk took place this past Sunday. The weather was beautiful, and the crowd was impressive. Kerry and Jasper were there. I was there. All of Aileen’s closest friends were there, many wearing Pets Alive T-shirts.
The start and finish were at pubs owned by Leslie Potter (and Julie Williams), another of Aileen’s friends. I was deeply touched by the posters on the walls of Pets Alive, a sort of journal of Aileen’s friends’ experiences.
I munched a hot dog and looked through a collage of pictures of Aileen. You can learn a lot about someone and how they were viewed by others by the pictures people choose for such a collage, and Aileen’s chronicled a life full of close friends and fun times.
I talked to a lot of her friends that afternoon, and I spent a lot of time listening to other people talk about Aileen and remember her fondly.  I wish I had a chance to really meet Aileen Hurley, though she touched my life deeply after she was gone.
As you probably know, we’re going broke. In fact, we are counting on the Furry Tail Evening Fund Raiser to get us through the next several months. Even with that fund raiser we’re two weeks short in funds, meaning we would have run out of money about two weeks before the event. Aileen raised $16,000 for us, an absolutely amazing amount of money for a first year fundraiser, and an amount that covers about two weeks of our expenses.
Thanks Aileen, for loving animals and sending us your friends to help us out. They’ve honored you and I hope these words in some small way honor you too. We’re leaving the button with your picture on it on the cork board, though with friends like yours there’s no chance we’ll ever forget you.
See you next year at the walk.