i love you, hank

Hank was a gentle giant of a golden retriever that belonged to my friends Steve and Nicole. I just found out a few days ago that they had to put him down last week because he had been suffering from cancer. When I saw Steve on Sunday, I asked him what happened, and although it was painful to listen to the details, what caught me off guard was my response in hearing him talk about it. It was like someone turned on the sad-ometer inside of me because tears just started to pour out.

After a moment of silence, I asked: "So are you going to get another dog?"
Steve sort of shook his head and shrugged. "Hank wasn't just a dog - he was so much more than that..."
"Yeah...I know, I know..." I replied.

And I really understood what he meant. Even though I didn't get to see Hank as often as I would have liked, there was something really special about him that I loved so dearly. Every time I left the Fortunato villa, I would mildly curse myself for getting his unruly dog hair all over my sweaters and tshirts (believe me, people, it takes DAYS to get rid of his hair) - but it was SO worth it. Being able to wildly wrap my arms around him and lose my face in his slobbery dog kisses and endless amount of doghair brought me back to the most tender moments of my childhood (and there weren't a lot of those, so they were precious moments, indeed). You just knew that when you declared out loud, "I love you, Hank!" that he knew what you were saying and that he thoroughly enjoyed every moment of you loving on him.

Isn't this funny? It's funny to see the connections human beings make with these animals that can't even remember what they did five minutes ago. They just have this way of drawing out all kinds of emotions within you that maybe you never knew you were capable of feeling. Yet they love you unconditionally, follow you faithfully, and are fiercely loyal(at least the ones that i've known). Personally, I think these are lessons we as human beings all could learn. Maybe that's why they were put on this planet

I'll miss you, Hank.