A heart breaking experience

We've all experienced sadness and regret at some point in our lives. Something happened to me
recently that broke my heart into pieces. My sister called me while I was at a friend’s house, telling me
that something was wrong with my dog Bubba. I left and returned home since she was panicking out
and didn't know what to do. When I arrived, the sight that greeted me crushed my heart. My dog was
behaving in ways I'd never seen before. He was trembling and having trouble walking. I grabbed him up
right away, packed him into the car, and drove him to the Emergency Vet. It was the longest ride of my
life. After reaching there, we had no choice but to leave him there because they wanted to keep him for
24 hours for observation. It was so difficult for us to leave him in this condition. I wasn't sure whether I'd
see him again at this point because I didn't know what was wrong. My thoughts immediately raced...
might he have suffered a stroke? Is it possible that he had a heart attack? So many thoughts were
coming to my mind. We rushed to the hospital again to see how he was doing. And then the vet
informed us that our dog died. After hearing the news of bubba’s death, I attempted to hold my tears in
because I felt that if I start crying I will not be able to stop. Bubba was 11 years old, and I recognized that
things will change as he’s old now as more years will pass I'm sure he'll slow down, and one day we’ll
finally lose touch. But it didn't matter what I knew at the time, I wasn't expecting it. I got in the car and
broke down when we said our goodbyes. I began to cry more forcefully than I had in years, and I began
to reflect on how busy I had been recently. I hadn't walked him in a few days, and I knew I should. I
began to wonder if I had petted him and lavished affection on him the day before I went. I felt guilty,
depressed, heartbroken and so much more. To know that just a few hours ago he was whining and
giving me the puppy eyes so I could take him to walk but now all of that is over as my dad and I buried
him in our yard. This realization hit me hard. And this required me to do the hardest thing I’ve ever had
to do so far was letting go of my closest friend, Bubba. It has been 4 months, I'm still grieving over the
loss of my Bubba, but I'm finding ways to cherish his memory and remember the happy times we had
together.