A Tribute to Shadow - My German shepherd

My Dear Shadow

The silence in the house hits you hard. The welcome bark of my dear Shadow will never be heard again. There is nobody asking for his share of biscuits when I wake up in the morning to have my first cup of tea.I saw him take the first breath eleven and half years ago and 5 days back I saw him take his last breath. The moment of separation cannot be expresses in words, it somewhere numbs your senses, it tears a chord within you.

Looking back there is a lot to learn from him. His resilience, enthusiasm, an unshakeable faith on the people he knew and loved, all teach me to look at the positives in life and take life as it comes.I still remember the first time when Shadow was around three and half months old and had just learnt his toilet manners. It was the month of January and we were in Gulmarg, Kashmir.We were sitting inside our room which was quite warm, outside the temperature was below zero degrees and it was all snow clad. Shyamal was sitting and wearing a T shirt and track pants, I at least had a sweater on. Shadow wanted to go for a toilet break. he indicated the same, looking at us, his eyes conveying that if you want you can come along and he opened the door with his snout and walked out. We also hurried behind him and had to bear the temperature outside.

The Two Brothers

By the time he was fully grown up his standing height was same as mine!!. Even when I went out for five minutes, on my return he would greet me with his paws on my shoulders. The day  we came to know that I had conceived, Shyamal and I came back home discussing on our way back that we needed to tame Shadow a bit specially the way he greeted me when I came back from outside. However there was no such need. From that day, as if he knew it all, he stopped climbing on my shoulders to greet me. nature is great and so is this breed of German Shepherds and so is my Shadow whom I shall always miss for the rest of our lives.

He was a big brother to my son Antariksh, who always addressed him as 'Bhai'. It was amazing to see the manner in which Shadow was protective about Antariksh. Gypsy, Shadow's mother passed away only a few days before Antariksh was to be born therefore Shadow automatically took it on him that he is responsible for Antariksh's welfare. Antariksh too will have to cope up with the tremendous loss.

                                                   
                                                              Antariksh and Shadow

He was my baby and I do not know how will I manage without him. Every corner of the house and specially the sofa in the drawing room looks and feels so empty. The vacuum created cannot be filled. I will miss him on my walks and and in every aspect of my life. I pray that his soul may rest in peace and god may send him back to me whenever the appropriate time comes for the same.