Bye Bye Love

You left as surprisingly as you came into our lives. I just woke up one morning and the kids were already playing with you – then the new puppy.

It was love at first sight. It helped a lot that you were so damn cute, but the moment I first carried you into my arms and you licked me, I just knew – you will be the dog I’ve longed for all these years.

You were quite the handsome fella, but I wasn’t really sure if you had a special breed. You only knew two things that I can remotely call as “tricks” – 1) you sit when I tell you so, and 2) when I say “pagpag!” during your baths, you shake off your whole body to get rid of the excess water in your coat. I admit though, you only sit because I force your butt down on the floor, and you “pagpag” because well, isn’t that the natural dog instinct once the water stops splashing? But since you’re my dog and I love you, I firmly believe that you actually understood what I was saying.

You came at a point when I was just recovering from the one of the lowest points of my life. I was struggling to adjust in a new world and you were adjusting to your new home. You were one of the things that I looked forward to whenever I went home. Just as the tricycle would come around the bend of our street, I could hardly contain the excitement of seeing you waiting for me in front of the gate. And now, whenever I’d come home – you won’t be there. Our yard will be void of your loyal and effervescent canine energy.

**********

You were the best dog ever. Bar none.

You were obedient. You never developed the habit of chomping on our slippers because when I told you not to when you were a puppy, you actually listened.

You were well-behaved. You would bark at people coming into our house by default but when we’d tell you it’s okay because they’re friends, you’d humbly retreat to your corner and continue your afternoon sleep.

You were friendly. Almost everyone in our street knew you and whenever you’re out in the street, you never needlessly ran after people passing by.

You were fun. You’d dart after the kids in the basketball half-court and would stay with them as they play, as if they were your responsibility until they were safe back home.

You were affectionate. You would always come enthusiastically running whenever we called you. You were rarely moody and snobbish. When we’d want to play with you at a time when you were quite tired and sleepy, you would at least come up and greet us, and then you’d just simply go back to resting, as if politely telling us to take rain check.

You were a true member of the family. Not only to us your humans, but also to your four feline co-pets. We always took pride at how you and the clowder got along. Even after so many months, Kachi and Kichi were still on their guard whenever you’d tease-chase them. They would claw you in retaliation and you would be so frustrated whenever they’d climb a height you couldn’t reach .There was even an instance when the two new puppies, Haley and Penny, just arrived and you were barking at them for terrorizing Tom and Jerry, as if scolding them to not gang up on the cats. Naturally, the two girls didn’t know yet how to amicably deal with the cats because it was still in their instinct to wildly chase after them.

These are all the things we will miss about you, Cooper. Now I feel bad for Haley and Penny, because they have quite the big shoes to fill in now that you’re gone. And it sucks that you were gone too soon.

I think we just watched “Marley & Me” a few months back and I remember wishing we’d have someone like Marley in the family. And then we got you. You never lasted as long as Marley did, but boy, you left a legacy just as commendable.

**********
We did many things together but my favorite bonding with you is whenever I’d give you a bath. Every Saturday afternoon were the only times you wouldn’t come running forward when I’d call you because you knew what it meant, haha. You would make me come to you instead. I’ll put you on the leash and although you’d protest at first, eventually you’d relent because you knew you had no choice. “Cooper, you we have to do this,” I’d remind you. Like I said, I’ve always believed in my heart you understood Kapampangan and English.

Believe it or not, it’s not like I enjoy giving you a bath either. Asna ka pamong ka-dungis neng kayi! Haha! But I knew it was something I had to do and because what would follow after were the best moments we would share every week.

I would towel dry you off, check your coat for lice and then I’ll hug you and you will lay in my lap until you’ve finally ‘recovered from the trauma of the bath’ and then you’d beg to be let out in the streets to play with the kids.

Those were my favorite moments with you. You’d bury your face into my almost wet clothes (wet from the bath I just gave you) and as I continuously pat you dry, we chat about anything under the sun. I’d tell you how my week was and I’d ask you how yours was, too. I’d rant to you my problems and the various people that were a pain in the ass in various degrees. And in times when I was especially feeling blue, I’d eventually yearn to tell you how lucky you were and how I envy you because you were just a dog, which means you never had to contend with the hardships of human life. And then I’d realize how much of a baby I was over the shallowest of things – wanting to be a dog instead was just too absurd of a solution to my woes. Haha! And there you go, you make me feel better and realize what’s really important by just being you – by just being there for me.

***********

It really hurts you had to leave us so soon. I’ve been crying for nights now whenever it would hit me that I will never see you again in our yard; that I will never get to play with you again; that I will never get to hug you again (no matter how dirty you’d become over the course of the week).

It sucks even more that I wasn’t there to comfort you when you were fighting the unimaginable pain caused by whatever disease shit that so suddenly, mysteriously and swiftly took you away from us earlier this week. You were always there for me, for us. And I couldn’t be there with you. I wasn’t able to properly say goodbye.

RIP Cooper, June 12, 2009 - March 22, 2011

I don't even have adult pictures of you.

Malay ko bang mawawala ka agad no. Tsk.

But I take solace in the fact that you know you were loved – because I’d tell you that a lot when you were still here. You were well taken cared of, and in return, you played the part of being the pet so perfectly.

So all in all, I’d say it was a great run, right? It was just a few months less than two years but it was eventful in every single way. It was time well spent but I guess you had to go. So, bye bye, love.