Remembering Yuri

If taking care of an animal is just like nurturing a garden, then I can say that my father has a green thumb. I don’t know how he does it, but he has this attachment to animals that the family finds cute. He’s as tough as an oak in front of us, but his affection for this different species reveals the vulnerable side of him. Eventually, I became fond of animals, too; although I must admit that I can never be close to animals the same way as my dad.

It was because of my dad that I came to know and ultimately love Yuri. She was a puppy born from one of our dogs, too, and she has no breed or anything of that sort. Her parents were askals, so I think she is no different. Nevertheless, she was the cutest of her kind that I have ever seen. Her gray fur was well-trimmed and her eyes were the color of pure coffee. She was a very animated dog, and her eyes gave the illusion that she was smiling. She was a sight. That was until we realized that there seemed to be something wrong with her. She didn’t want to eat nor suck from her mom; she didn’t play with us anymore and she often retreated in her little space inside the house. We grew more and more worried with each meal that Yuri skipped. Even my dad decided to keep a close watch on her. We became Yuri’s lighthouse. We took extra care in preparing her food, and we also prepared her formula milk because she won’t suck her mom’s. We never let her out of our sight, or should I say, we never let ourselves out of her sight. We talked to her, asked her what she was feeling, but of course she didn’t answer. Or maybe she did; we just didn’t hear it. Her long loose tongue prevented the exchange of words between us. I guess that’s the reason why animals don’t share the same language with us, because they also want to keep things to themselves inasmuch as we, humans prefer to keep some secrets on our own.

By the time we decided to bring her to our municipal veterinarian, it was already too late. Yuri didn’t suffer that long. After four days she finally closed her eyes forever. We buried her at twilight because it was only then that we found her stiff body on her little bed. Now, I think the time was no coincidence because whether we like it or not, a person might leave us just as the sun was about to do the same. My dad made her a beautiful and “comfortable” excavation that we decorated with flowers of all sorts. And yes, I cried. I felt like I lost one of the best friends that I had on earth. The loss was painful, but it was also comforting knowing that Yuri is already at ease wherever she might be during that time.

After almost two months of having Yuri around the house, we collected her things and sorted what we should and shouldn’t keep. We burned her bed and the leftover from the formula milk that we bought for her. On the other hand, we kept her chain and collar that was customized with her name. To cut the story short, we let her go. Painful though it may seem, it was part of being human – we let go; we move on, but we never forget the beautiful things that come with the memory.