When my grandmother passed away, my grandfather was left alone in his house. Whenever I went to visit him, he was always by himself and didn’t want anyone to move in with him. So, I came up with the idea of giving him a little dog that I had rescued from the street.
When he received it, he named it ‘Chirulin’. They do everything together: sunbathe, eat, go for walks, watch TV, etc. A few days ago, my grandfather fell ill and during those days he wrote me a letter on how to treat and take care of ‘Chirulin’, in case he didn’t make it out of the hospital. He also wrote me the recipe for the soup he prepares for ‘Chirulin’. And I could only think of asking him to also write me the recipe for living without him, without my grandfather.
He entrusted ‘Chirulin’ to the whole family. Yesterday he was discharged and of course, we brought ‘Chirulin’ to him. He hugged him and whispered: “We need to hurry and do all those things we have left to do together, there’s not much time,” and he started laughing… Yes, my grandfather made a list of things he wants to do in the company of ‘Chirulin’, his faithful friend. Just seeing how ‘Chirulin’ looks at him, you can understand how much they love each other.
And to those who say it’s just a dog, I say: “animals are a gift for the soul, a gym to learn tolerance, respect, love. Love, the true kind, that doesn’t divide but unites. Loving teaches us to love.”
Guendalina Middei