{"sf1_id":1639095,"sf2_id":"keNqvrO1","title":"Until we meet again...","author":"Ossanlin","words":1045,"posted_at":"2020-10-15T03:01:00.000Z","tags":["Dog","Feral","Memorial","Siberian Husky","Tribute"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/1639095-until-we-meet-again","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/keNqvrO1","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/d9/68/d968c79f-a2ec-4bb4-81d8-963114f42fc2","description":"In loving memory of my Siberian Husky, Aleksey Maximillion. My heart is breaking, but I wouldn't sacrifice even a single moment I had with him.","content":"To my knight in shining armor,  \n  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Letting you go is the hardest thing I've had to do.\u0026nbsp; You charged into my life on four paws that were each almost as big as your head.\u0026nbsp; The first time I held you, I remember you nibbling on my goatee.\u0026nbsp; It was love at first sight.\u0026nbsp; The first night I brought you home, you were scared and sad.\u0026nbsp; Of course you were...you were separated from your mother and your sisters.\u0026nbsp; Put into a strange environment with even stranger people.\u0026nbsp; Everything you'd ever known changed.\u0026nbsp; I held my hand in your kennel all night as we slept, hoping to comfort you.  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Eventually you got over your anxiety and then we were fast friends.\u0026nbsp; We played in the yard and ran around and around until I couldn't run anymore.\u0026nbsp; Do you remember playing hide and seek?\u0026nbsp; Eventually you learned where all of my hiding places were and you could sniff me out in no time flat.\u0026nbsp; Then of course you chewed me out for hiding from you.\u0026nbsp; I remember you talking, you talked a lot, a common thing for your breed.\u0026nbsp; I remember hiding under a sheet on the floor and \"playing dead\"...you always worked so hard to nuzzle me back to \"life,\" making me chuckle in the process.  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;I remember how much you loved to go for walks.\u0026nbsp; I desperately wish I'd taken you on more of them.\u0026nbsp; I should've done it every day, because it was such a simple thing, but it made you so happy.\u0026nbsp; I remember back when I was in college, any time you had to go outside, you'd go bat your leash hanging from the door and look at me.\u0026nbsp; If your water dish was empty, you'd lift the edge up with your snout so it would bang on the floor and immediately give me an expectant look.\u0026nbsp; You were so smart...you knew exactly what you were doing...even though you confused \"sit\" with \"down\" all the time.\u0026nbsp; And if you wanted what I was eating, you'd offer a paw, knowing it would earn you a bite even though no one said \"shake.\"  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;I remember when you had your GDV.\u0026nbsp; It was the scariest few days of my life...you were only three years old and I was afraid I was going to lose you.\u0026nbsp; It felt like my whole world was crumbling...it was the first and only time I ever felt sick to my stomach because of worry.\u0026nbsp; You lived thanks to the talented teachers and students at the University hospital, but they said you weren't recovering well.\u0026nbsp; We came to visit you and you seemed so lethargic and depressed...I started worrying all over again.\u0026nbsp; But then, the next day when I visited with a cooked chicken breast hoping to entice you to eat, they came in and told me how amazed they were.\u0026nbsp; After we'd visited you, your entire demeanor had changed.\u0026nbsp; You'd perked up and started eating and drinking normally.\u0026nbsp; I held the bowl with the chicken breast down for you and you devoured it like a starving maniac and I cried.\u0026nbsp; I cried so many tears of joy I couldn't even speak.  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;A few days later, I brought you home and laid with you on the floor.\u0026nbsp; We fell asleep together in the living room and stayed that way for hours.\u0026nbsp; I helped save you then, but you might not know that you saved me over and over again, just by being you.\u0026nbsp; Whenever I needed comfort, you supplied it.\u0026nbsp; Whenever I needed a happy lick and a pick-me-up, you were there.\u0026nbsp; Whenever I needed a chuckle, or just a grin, you gave it to me.\u0026nbsp; I loved you so much it hurt to think about today.\u0026nbsp; I knew it would come, that I would likely outlive you...but I couldn't even stand the thought.\u0026nbsp; That love never diminished...the agony I feel now is testament to that...but I wouldn't give up even a single moment I shared with you, not for the whole world.  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;When you were diagnosed with Lyme, I was worried, but you soldiered through.\u0026nbsp; And then when you were diagnosed diabetic, I feared the worst.\u0026nbsp; But you survived.\u0026nbsp; You would always come to the ktichen to get your insulin injection because you knew you'd get a treat afterward.\u0026nbsp; It became a ritual.\u0026nbsp; Insulin twice a day and treats.\u0026nbsp; Braunschweiger and Greenies.\u0026nbsp; You loved Greenies so much...I wanted to give you everything in the world...even if I could've, it wouldn't have come close to what you gave me.\u0026nbsp; Even after the cataracts and the blindness, you soldiered on.\u0026nbsp; A fighter...the blindness barely even phased you.\u0026nbsp; But eventually disease claimed you.\u0026nbsp; You tried so hard to keep going...only eleven, you should've had five more years and you deserved a hundred more...whether it was the tumors or the disease that originally injured your pancreas, or both...they finally got the better of you.  \n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;I gave you a piece of my heart and put it in your paws...it happened the very first moment a tiny puppy nibbled my goatee.\u0026nbsp; And I would do it again a thousand times.\u0026nbsp; The unflappable clutches of mortality ripped you away from me, and that piece of my heart along with you.\u0026nbsp; You carry that piece with you now wherever you run and roam free...I wouldn't want it any other way.\u0026nbsp; The hole in my heart will heal and mend with time, but it will be there forever, and I will never be complete again until we are reunited.\u0026nbsp; We will be together again, I have to believe we will.\u0026nbsp; I will hug you and you'll nibble my goatee before you chew me out for not coming with you in the first place.\u0026nbsp; And I'll take you on a walk to the ends of time.\u0026nbsp; I love you.\u0026nbsp; I miss you.\u0026nbsp; My life is immeasurably better for having had you in it, and nothing will be the same without you.\u0026nbsp; Please...be happy, my \"bubba,\" wherever you are...and wait for me.\u0026nbsp; I'll join you in time...and I'll be counting the days until I do.\u0026nbsp; I love you so much...you were my knight in shining armor.\u0026nbsp; I love you.  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;In Loving Memory of Aleksey Maximillion...the most wonderful Siberian Husky a boy could wish for.  \n  \n\n"}