Jasper’s Good Bye As If From A Loving Parent To Child

Dogs can not only be man’s best friend, but beloved child with many a human characteristic too. Consider Dana Perino’s touching “Jasper’s Good-Bye,” which embodies all the hallmarks of a grieving parent after losing a son or daughter:

“Jasper, America’s dog, died at 12:40 p.m. on Saturday, September 4, 2021. He was nine years old. Though I’ve cried and felt the rolling waves of the first stage of grief for the first two days without him, I don’t think it really hit me until 3:08 a.m. on September 6th. I woke up because it was too quiet. Even when Jasper was sound asleep, he had a presence. I tried going back to sleep – I prayed, breathed, and begged for a bit more rest. It wasn’t happening. When I came downstairs, I could feel Jasper everywhere. This was his house [too]. I grabbed my laptop and swallowed a couple of bites of Greek yogurt to coat my stomach before having a cup of English Breakfast Tea. I went to set the bowl down for Jasper to find when he woke up. I liked to leave him a little surprise. I caught myself before the bowl hit the floor and placed it in the kitchen sink instead.

“I couldn’t decide where to sit to write, because each spot was also his. Jasper sat wherever we sat. It didn’t matter how small the chair, he would find a way to squeeze in there. Then he’d just sit and look around, as if he were a person helping you read the newspaper or have a chat with visitors on a Sunday afternoon. He would fight sleep. If he started to nod off, he’d wake with a start and then pretend he wasn’t falling asleep. He had a terrible fear of missing out. And now I miss everything.” RIP, Jasper. (My Napoleon will also never be forgotten.)

Davd Soul