Last night, I saw on my cousin Mae’s Facebook status message that one of her dogs died. I have never been a dog lover but I was somehow affected and saddened by the news. The story of how Rally became my Mae’s dog is so quaint and unique. And he has been with my cousin for 11 years since.

Mae shared her story on FB:

Rally has been a dear friend and companion for several years now. He became a part of our family last April, 1998…Lemme share to you his/our story. My dad was running for VM for the 1998 elections. It was the peak of the campaign period since election day was just a month away. One sunny morning, my dad, brothers, and an entourage attended a rally a few blocks away from our house, on their way back, a mixed breed jap spitz/ chinese poodle/whatever dog followed them all the way to our house. He got inside our garage area and sat on the white wooden bench outside our house. He was as white as cotton and as cute as cupcake (cute ba ang cupcake? ah basta..that’s the best way I’d describe him). I even remember my brother Brian telling my mom and I, “Ma, Mae, may bago tayong aso. Ayaw lumabas ng gate. I’m sure may batang umiiyak somewhere sa Obrero.” I immediately ran outside to see the dog and to my surprise he came up to me, looking at me with his “I like you” gaze and was begging to be caressed. He was such an adorable dog. My brother was joking bout naming him “Kinit” for kinit-an but eventually he decided to call him “Rally”.

I feel loved and secure every time I come home and see him wagging his tail and looking excited to see me with his beautiful, big, gray eyes. I will really, really miss him. I know that he’s now in Dog heaven together with Etoy, Patty, Chipoy, Magic, Niza and the rest of my furry friends.

Funny how life brings us surprises and how seemingly insignificant moments become significant parts of our lives. Rally was just a dog. But somehow his dog life was defined and defined my cousin and their family’s life.