Big J.. Forever

I thought of posting this nearly a month ago, but somehow I still haven't been able to face the bitter reality of Jerry's death. It was on the wee hours of 9th February. Ma telephoned me and even before I pressed the call acceptance button on my mobile phone, I somehow knew the news I was going to hear. Its true that he was not keeping well for almost one week prior to his death. He was old. Rather too old...but how old is too old? Can we ever overcome the grief of losing someone close to our heart.Its a terrible feeling to know that the next time when I will go to meet my parents, he wouldn't be around. I wouldn't relish his crazy antics, now no one will ever get so furious enough to bite me.. This may sound a bit crazy but I have been bitten a lot many times by Jerry. My palms still have the marks, but then its natural for a dog to bite when provoked. I never hit him back when bitten. It was his natural self defense technique.I still remember the day he came to our life, just 27 days old, who would get tired after walking a few centimetres on the carpet, ma used to feed him a semisolid baby food, which he soon found distasteful and found delight in raw vegetables which he used to swiftly steal when vegetables for lunch were being chopped.He grew up fast. Each birthday of his that we celebrated, traumatised me. I knew he was a year closer to the inevitable. I last met him about a year and a half ago. He was getting old, did not like human presence much, was somewhat distracted, later ma told me that he had cataract and was going deaf. Honestly, I can never imagine my Jerry as anything else than the rough one, who would get angry at the slightest provocation, but at the same time would be the mischivieous of the lot, someone who was a brother to me, someone who I will miss forever. Yes, that's my Jerry..Forever!