"Death in the Family"
I received a phone call from home that my friend died. It was a big blow. At the back of my mind why was I not able to perform the last sacraments? He was buried immediately in a shallow graveyard. No funeral, no rites, no requiem mass. I did not even had the chance to view him: there was no viewing at all, nor he was embalmed. Just like that, after his death, immediate burial.
He did not contact any virus, nor any contagious disease, nor he contacted any. Symptoms showed last night. He was vomiting, the next day he could not eat anymore. His expiration was very fast. I missed him. When I come home to visit my mother, he usually greets me, always the first one, kissing my hand, searching for it almost in panic, not because he is afraid but because he loves and missed me. How could they not informed me before hand? I could have rushed home. How come they did the burial immediately? It is only now and perhaps more in the years to come that I begin to miss him. He was very important to our family. In him I learned the greatest lesson of my life. "If you cannot be kind to animals, how could you be kind to people?" Rest in peace, Brownie. You were really a good and very friendly puppy.
