May!

What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

May has a very special meaning for me.

It was a bright May morning – May 3rd 2006 – when my childhood sweetheart, our family dog, an Indian Spitz died of old age.

That was my very first encounter with heartbreak.

Gemmy had lived a long, happy life and had given me and my family some memorable moments to cherish. He had lived with us for fifteen years and died like a priest.

It was a very heartening moment for all of us, the end of an era.

I was away from home that day, living in a city working on my very first job. My family did not inform me right away.

Later that weekend I went back home. My Dad had made a nice cozy home for him next to the roof deck of our apartment where he got his own space and lots of air while he was recovering from his latest surgery. He was old but in high spirits and continued to live a good life.

Come Saturday morning I decided to give him a quick visit like I always did every weekend when I went home.

“I will give Gemmy a quick peck before I start my day,” I declared after I woke up. It was hard to live away from home, but coming back home every weekend had been the saving grace. Days living away from Gemmy were hard enough, I was not prepared for the news I was about to get.

My grandmother and my mom had tears in their eyes as they looked at me and my ignorant self.

That’s when my Dad came to me and gave the news of his passing.

It was a hard time. But we knew he had lived a good life.

That time of early May marks a significant phase of my life.

Then on 4th May, a few decades later a new little bundle of joy walked into my life from a local SPCA of San Francisco, my new home then.

He was the light in my soul. A gentle giant and a monk. Romo, a majestic Belgian Malinois, far more matured for his age.

Romo passed away early. But the little time we both got together gave me a lifetime of joy.

And then, on 5th May, a few months after Romo’s passing, a new ray of hope walked into my life! Sauli, another pretty little Malinois ready to explore the wonder that was Life!

Sauli continues to hold the torch for me. A torch lit my Gemmy, passed on to Romo and now held high by my beloved Sauli – the heart of our family.

May continues to be the most remarkable month of my life!

Once a pawrent, always a pawrent.