Flame
We had a dog. His name was Flame.
We got him from a shelter where he was trembling between older, bigger, louder dogs. He was small, not even three months, and he was cute, very special as a cross between a German Shepperd and a Border Collie, and special he has been through all his life.
We got him mainly to give some company to our only child, our wonderful son, but I cannot deny that I love dogs and I have had few of them throughout my young life.
But Flame was not a “company dog”, as I said, he was special. He had a wild streak and soon we understood that he loved to play but he played rough, he loved to run, and he run very fast, he loved company but he was bossy, and he loved food but he was demanding, he loved to talk but he barked loudly. He was special and extremely beautiful in his unique pattern of colors and features. Was he part wolf, or a sheep dog, or a guardian one, we didn’t know and surely he didn’t let us understand. Always tense, always guarding, always untrusting, very rarely relaxed, but also always giving unconditional love.
He was strong and resilient, and he was beautiful. Our vet once asked me which food I was feeding him. I told him:” It’s the Costco brand, why”. He told me that his fur was rich and his colors were bright and shiny.
He was a jumper. He used to jump through a plastic loop in the backyard to get a treat afterward, no effort at all involved, his movements smooth and wavy as water.
He lived almost to 16 years old. His birthday was going to be May 2nd. He died on the 30th of March. A terrible violent seizure was a sign of brain tumor, we came to know, and there was nothing to do. It would have gotten worst so better to close the chapter of his life in a humane way……
But now we mourn him every time we eat, and he does not ask for food, every time we walk and he is walking with us, every time we watch television and he is not sitting on the couch between us. And every time we come back home because he is not there to greet us and every time we rest because he is not resting next to us, and every time we need a warm and comforting hug feeling his warm and soft body.
He was a special dog, as his dog-sitter said, and in the end he was lost and he was confused and I couldn’t help him and I couldn’t let him know that there was nothing else I could have done. And didn’t matter where we were anymore, the only thing that matter was that finally he needed to rest.