[Warning: this is a "D'aaaaaw" thread. Read at your own risk.]
This is not a funny post. But I don't intend it to be overly sad either. It's a post about a man's best friend, who then became another member in our family.
Bribón came to our lives about ten, eleven years ago. We've never had any dog in the family, except for my mom, who had a German Shepherd. When my brother bought him, and told us he got a dog, my mother knew all the disgrace he would bring us in the future. But, since we were all so happy and thrilled for the new member of the family, she gave in. That little Golden Retriever cub became soon a fully grown-up dog, more or less in six months. I remember meeting him for the first time when he was like... maybe four months old? I was 8-9 years old. I knew him, there were photos of him, that little furball with his big hazel eyes and what looked like an eternal smile.
The first day I met him, at my brother's home, I remember my other brother asking him for his paw. Bribón happily obbeyed, proud of his recently learned trick. Then my brother asked him for the other paw, and, in an effort of improving his trick, he gave him the other paw as well, or tried to before he fell to the ground before us, who were laughing at the poor naive doggie. He didn't mind it, because he wasn't hurt, and stood up quickly, wagging his tail with energy and happy to see we were having fun.
He was always kind and caring, a good dog for children but also for older people with some kind of problem, like my mother, whose back aches a lot. He knew she couldn't be alone, and everytime we visited him, he always stood by her, trying to get her to pet him to cheer her up. Bribón had, indeed, a golden heart, just like his fur.
More or less a week ago, our brother informed us that he was too old, and that if we wanted to see him one last time we should hurry up. If you've lost someone you can get an idea how it is, more or less; He wasn't just a dog. He was
OUR dog, my brother's son, my other brother's nephew, my nephew, my parent's grandson, another member of the family. Everybody who knew him loved him. Our hearts were broken, we could barely sleep, worrying about him, wondering whether he would survive the night or what would happen to him. A couple of days after, Bribón said goodbye to this world, finally resting after a happy life.
He was cremated. We scattered the ashes at the beach: my sister-in-law threw a rock, and then my brother scattered the ashes after it, as the last game before we said the last goodbye. It totally looked like he didn't want to leave us alone, even after death: the urn was nearly impossible to open! But he finally left this world, his spirit soaring free, to rest for the eternity, waiting for us eagerly, ready to welcome us when the time comes.
Rest in peace. We miss you.
