puppy love

anyone who has ever loved a dog would love the movie “hachiko”. it’s a heartwarming true story of a  dog-man relationship.

i could relate to the story well, as i once loved a dog, very much. the movie brought back many fond memories of heishi, and the good times that we’ve spent together. though we were two very separate beings (what do you expect, heishi was a “chinese educated” dog, and i was an uneducated kid), but over a short few years, we have grown very close.

some of my best childhood memories were somehow associated with heishi. i mean, before school, heishi’s the one that i always look forward to meet when i wake up and walk down the stairs; and after school, heishi’s the one that i always look forward to meet for our regular walks at the park. in short, heishi was in fact, a very big part of my childhood life.

but, as with all good movies, there’s always a good twist.

i got back from school one day, looking forward to my regular outing with heishi, only to notice something’s missing, something’s different, something just went wrong.

mom sat me down, and she had ask me to stay clam as she had something to tell me. it felt like only yesterday when she told me that heishi was a very old dog, and he had to leave, for good. i was shocked. i was devastated. i couldn’t comprehend as to why he had to leave. i got up immediately and ran around the whole neighbourhood searching frantically for heishi for hours, but to no avail.

later that night, mom explained to me this:

“heishi had to leave because he loves you. heishi loves you too much to want to let you see him leave. that’s why he left”. and she also told me this:

“letting go of someone who loves you is not difficult; letting go of someone who you love is very painful”. heishi made a painful decision to leave so that i will not get hurt, and i love him for that; but if i ever see him again, i will let him know that it too was very painful for me to let go of him, for i don’t know how.

it’s been close to 30 years now since heishi left, and i still have yet to find courage to take in another puppy. so much for puppy love…

on a lighter side, i can say that:

1. moms are always smarter than we are,

2. go watch hachiko if you’ve ever loved a dog!

and i wonder if there’s a dog heaven that i can stop over one day…?

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