I was reminded today...

Of something that happened to me not too long ago...
I had been to an electronics store, and as I walked back to the tram, I saw a man, sitting on a fence... He seemed sort of hopeless just sitting there, staring at his dog, which lay next to him in the grass... When I came closer to him I noticed he was crying, or had cried, and I asked him what was wrong with his dog...


He told me that the dog was old... And sick... But sometimes he felt good enough still to take a kind of long walk along the harbor, like he was doing at that time... But now the dog had laid down in the grass, and refused to get up...


He told me that even though he KNEW it was time to do the right thing and say goodbye to his dog... He still had hopes... False ones, he said... But still hopes...


The man said he was not strong enough to carry the dog home... But he had called his girlfriend on his mobile phone to come pick him up...


For some reason, even though I was in a hurry, I stayed with the man... And we both petted and talked to the dog... But all the dog gave in response was that he looked at us... His eyes broken... Tired... Old...


Some time later a car stopped... It was the man's girlfriend, and both crying they lifted the dog onto the backseat...


The man thanked me for stopping... Talking to him... Understanding... But as he was getting in the car I said to him NOT to take the dog to the vet right away... I told him to take it home... To put it in his favorite spot, and wait... Just a few hours if any... Because maybe the dog was ready to say goodbye all by himself, instead of with the help of the vet...


He promised me he would... And I wonder what happened... Because of course I never met the man again...


But today... This morning... I was reminded of this thing...


Because in the bathroom mirror... I saw those same kind of eyes stare back at me...


Broken...


Tired...


Old...


But ready to die???