because a dog is family

mr P and i enjoy watching movies at home. the habit has grown on me because he hates crowded malls as these cause him migraines. i am thankful because it's QT spent together. i do not miss the cinemas as much because i get the same ambiance anyway --- dumadagundong ang TV/sound system namin, i still get to eat as much junk as i want, and i get to raise my legs, laugh like a hyena, sob (as in hagulhol), nap and pause the movie halfway and watch my fave films over and over.


for the past two days, we have been into dog movies. i made him watch Eight Below because it was about 2 malamutes and 6 Huskies (and we have 2 Huskies ourselves --- which, i think the entire universe knows because of my FB posts and status, and yes, profile picture.)  we watched Best in Show that was a docu-like film on pet parents, their dogs and their stories as they were about to join a Dog Show.

tonight, we finished watching Hachiko, starring Richard Gere and Hachi, the Akita that was the star of the film.

i liked the movie.  i will not share here anything about the movie because i want you (yes, you, my dear friend) to see it for yourself.  mr P downloaded it from the Internet.  i hope you could find time to do the same.  it is worth the download wait, i tell you.

the movie made me appreciate a dog's devotion to his pet parent.  i am very sure that this is a function of the love showered to him to begin with.

i asked mr P to download the original Jap version (with English subtitle, of course) because the film was inspired by a true story of a Japanese professor and his own Akita.  

If you have been to Japan, the Hachiko statue in Shibuya Station is an important landmark.  

after googling for the torrent of the Jap version and stumbled on this photo of the statue of Hachiko, it dawned on me that i had a photo taken here with very close friends-batchmates in SSEAYP.  imagine, it was our SSEAYP in 2000.  it was december and was 6 degrees then --- cold cold cold Tokyo but we had to have a photo taken here.  (i should look for that photo or ask my friends for a copy!)

remembering that experience of having our picture taken by a truly devoted dog made it more meaningful for me now because we have 2 dogs ourselves --- Bo and Lee.  (huskies are brothers of akitas.  they look alike!  i digress.)

all the more i want to see Hachiko Monogatari.  

and i will continue to make a mental note (and remind everyone around me) to make sure that my boys will know of my death.  They should be made to stay with my loved ones during the vigil/my wake and send me off as well like everyone else.

after all, they are family.

if my loved ones will forget (and the boys get to wait and wait by the door until i get home from work, which they usually do), i will haunt my relatives for causing my boys anxiety. lol!