People walked by as I stood outside the Academy of Music on Walnut Street, taking in the posters for the coming shows. As usual, I found the artwork fascinating and I imagined a whole room full of such posters in a home, an office or a studio somewhere. It would make a statement, I thought to myself. A room full of theater posters would be a tribute to emotion!

I would get as many of them autographed as I could, frame them in bright colors, and cover the walls. I might even nail them to the ceiling and fill the room with mirrors! Yes, I might do that. Every time I walked into the room, I’d be surrounded by life’s mystery, drama and suspense in all its power. As my attention centered on one particular poster, about the story of three Black singers rising from the slums of Detroit to the heights of entertainment success, I recalled one of the most powerful performances I had ever seen on stage. The show was “Dreamgirls” … the singer was Jennifer Holliday … and she was wailing, “And I am Tellin You, I’m Not Goin’!”

I hadn’t met Jenniffer in the years I ran around with the Broadway crowd, but I knew a close friend of hers named Tony Chase. Tony was one of those beautiful men who stun you with their independence and sense of style. He was a fashion designer with a dazzling list of clients including Dolly Parton and actress Kim Criswell who wore his glamorous dresses well. The story goes that Dolly and he met in a traffic jam in Los Angeles while she was on the way to signing the contract for her own TV show. As luck would have it, their cars pulled up beside each other and they caught each other’s attention. Dolly looked over, realized she was in the presence of a great talent, and asked Tony to hop in and go with her to the meeting. “I know why you wear that cloth around your head,” she told him, of his Valentino-style headgear. “It’s to cover your third eye.”

Whether or not Tony had three eyes, is something I never knew. But, he did believe in things that many of us couldn’t see and he had the power to see what the rest of us couldn’t. Jennifer Holliday was one of those things.

Jennifer wasn’t feeling so good in those days. Art had imitated life for her, and, just like the singer she portrayed in Dreamgirls, she had been replaced. Tony stood by her, and helped re-create this incredible artist into what she is today. Anyone who saw her perform with The Boston Pops can’t forget her. Anyone lucky enough to see her perform that song from Dreamgirls knows why Jennifer Holliday comes to mind when it comes to taking us away from anything we love.

“We’re evacuating the city. You must leave NOW!”

“The nuclear reactor plant is melting down – anyone who can leave the area should do so now …”

“It’s a hurricane! RUN!”

We’ve all seen it on the news, or lived it. Like people walking past the Music Academy on Walnut Street, we all have our own stories, our own comedies and dramas, to tell. We have our own choices to make, too. When it really comes down to it – when it’s life or death – what about our dogs?

I sure took the long road getting to the point, didn’t I? Maybe that’s because, like most of us, I don’t like facing that particular question. But, the truth is, whether it’s during an emergency disaster that we didn’t see coming, or something we can plan for like the end of our own lives, what about our dogs?

I know what Jennifer would say about that: She’s not goin’! She’s stayin right here, in this house, on this rooftop, floating down the river with her dog. And don’t even try changing her mind!

Others would say, “So long, pal. Here’s some food for a few days. It’s been great.”

Many would wipe away tears as they ran and some would be crying forever.

When you don’t know how long you’ll be gone, there isn’t a straight answer when it comes to saving your dog from the Hurricane Katrinas or Three Mile Islands in life. For a day, or even for a few days, a dog can survive. But, longer than that without food or water? Well, most of us know the answer.

Are people who refuse to leave their homes because of their pets in the face of danger smart, or wise? I don’t know. Like most of us, I don’t know what’s right or wrong when it comes to these things, but I do admire their certainty about what they love.

In that room filled with posters from Broadway shows coming to town, I’ll save a few newspaper clippings about dog lovers in New Orleans who refused to leave no matter what. I’ll frame them and place them next to the poster for Dreamgirls, as Jennifer Holliday crys out with all the conviction of her mind, her body, her soul, her heart. “I’m Not Goin!” she wails, like one who has nothing if this is taken away, and knows it. I’m telling you, she screams with all she’s got: I’m … not … going.