This story takes us back in time when we not yet known Miklós Bíró as he was not yet thinking of applying for a guide dog. Along the forest path leading to his old workplace, there is a tree with a smiling face made with phosphorescent stripes. Miklós already told us this story in the way his guide dog led us to this tree and after our chat, he went back with him, to the forest village near the city of Eger, called Szarvaskő, to their shared home.

“A few years ago, my work was located on the other side of this mountain, which was a quarry. Every morning, I set myself and put on every tool and left for work on walk.
When my vision started to worsen, my greatest problem was to deal with the change of shade and light. It was august, when I returned back from my holiday, and it was still dark in early morning. I left home by wearing my headlight, I came up here to this tree, where I always have some rest on the top of the steep incline, then I continued on the path and I suddenly I realised that I am not on the path. Then I fumbled back and I started again, but I did not find my way back. I desperately called home, that ‘My son, come here and find me, you will recognize my headlight, I do not know where I am.’

Then I realized that I can not do this anymore. We were thinking of keeping this morning walk and walking back home, then we found out, that we cut the stripes from the visibility vest, cut them into pieces and staple them on the trees along the path. When I went to work in the morning, my headlight shone on these stripes which showed me the way like a streak of light.

A year later I acquired another type of phosphorescent stripes. My son knew that this was my tree for rest, it’s already a little comfort when I get up here, and he surprised me by putting a smiley face here. Coming here the next morning, when my headlight shone on it, I saw that the tree was smiling and waiting for me here. This is the story of this smile.”

Miklós and his son put phosphorescent sign on four more trees along the forest path from the house to the work. Those are well known by Atom (Miklós’ guide dog), when leaving the house, Miklós tells him to go to the “smiling one”, the 2-year-old yellow, male dog confidently leads him there, across the narrow wooden bridge and along the winding narrow paths.