Farewell, Dollar.

Everything is still a blur. It's been 2 days since the tragedy happened and I tear up as I type these words. I still can't believe that you're gone.

Dollar Bill Acosta (April 26, 2011 - August 5, 2013)

I still recall the first time I laid eyes on Dollar. He was delivered to our home cradled in a teeny tiny cage that made it hard for him to breathe. The first thing that I noticed was his very expressive pair of peepers asking intently to let him out of the cage, which we immediately did. When he got out of it, I sensed his freedom radiate through his eyes. He wagged his tail left and right and ran around the house to acquaint himself with every nook and cranny of his new home. Before long, he was already actively playing with us like it was his first time to interact with anyone or anything in his life. 

My mom named our dog Dollar Bill simply because he looked expensive. She also said that she wouldn't want to run out of dollar bills that's why she's betting that Dollar would give her good luck that could consequently beef up her dollar account. I admit that Dollar sure looked expensive. He was a mixed breed of labrador and retriever and sported really thick golden locks. Right off the bat, people would say that Dollar was a handsome dog. Whoa nellie! Dog bitches and hoes did agree as they lined up just to hang with him! People loved Dollar so much that he undoubtedly became one of the popular dogs in our street. As for the good luck that my mom was gunning for when she gave Dollar his name, I don't know. She's just crazy like that.

Dollar was a really sweet dog. He got excited easily that he would jump up and down when someone from the family comes home. His eyes were so adorable that they spoke to us about what he felt. We initially intended him to live in the house so we could play with him and he could be trained properly. We fed him high quality dog food, took him to the vet for his regular check-ups, bought him a lot of accessories and had him sleep in a cozy bed, much thanks to his $100/month allowance from Dad. We taught him simple tricks like play dead, sit, roll over, and catch ball. He was very smart and it didn't take long for him to be comfortable with us and make strangers feel uncomfortable with him. When he grew bigger, we couldn't manage to let him stay in the house longer because he became too cumbersome that's why he ended up having his own play area by the garage. He wore a leash attached to a custom-made metal ladder that served as his play pen. It was rough for him at first because the presence of the ladder was so foreign to him that he didn't know what to do with it. There were times when he would coy too much and end up strangling himself. He would go up, down and through the steps with his leash on then get stuck until someone comes to his rescue. When he got older, he learned how to maneuver his way through the steps and never failed to put up a show whenever we watched him do it. We strategically placed him at an area outside our home where he could get first dibs on people passing by our house. Dollar would bark really loudly when he suspected a stranger get near our gate. Moreso when he would hear a car's engine turn off which didn't sound like ours park in front of our house. That made him go ballistic. Overall, he was a very reliable guard dog. 

To cut the story short, at the dawn of August 5, 2013, we lost our beloved Dollar. I won't give full details on how it happened because i'm trying to forget the tragedy that caused his death. As a backstory, we live here in Antipolo, also known as the mountains. And when you live in the mountains, there are uphill climbs, downhill drifts and skids that we have to toil in on a daily basis. Our house is situated at the tail end of a steep descend; the dead end, so to speak. So when a sleepy and inexperienced driver tried to jumpstart his inefficient SUV with malfunctioned brakes coming from the peak facing down the street, guess where it would land? A witness to the whole incident concluded that the driver tried to start the car not expecting it to move but it did. Since the brakes were allegedly not working, the car purportedly went downhill much to the driver's surprise. What made it worse was it looked like the driver didn't know what to do that he stepped "unintentionally" on the gas pedal accelerating his way to our now fully wrecked gate and garage. Unfortunately, Dollar was innocently eating his breakfast at the back of the gate. When the car collided with the gate into our garage, it hit Dollar's play pen (where his leash was attached), smacking his body onto the wall in a split second. It was like a scene from a movie, believe me. I still thank the Lord that Dollar was not smashed into gory fragments although the impact caused his body to bleed internally which resulted to his death. I thank the Lord more because backtracking the event that transpired, my mom was just there at the same spot where Dollar was, seconds before the accident happened. Thank heavens that she went inside after feeding Dollar to wash her hands otherwise I don't know if I would still be blogging about this right now.

I cried really hard upon learning what happened and seeing what the accident left. Our first order of business was to look for Dollar. We didn't even take notice of the rest of the damage that the crash caused because what was important then was to search for Dollar's remains because we knew that the gravity of the accident wouldn't leave him unscathed. When we found his body, he was lying on the ground and his heart was still beating. His eyes were half-open and he looked like he was in a great deal of pain. We tried to wake him but he slowly died on us shortly after opening his eyes to give us a final glance. Imagine my cries when I saw him in that state. By the way, the driver of the car came out alive just with a broken nose, thankyouverymuch.

They say that when a family's dog dies, it means that a life of a family member is saved from death. As much as it pains me to lose Dollar, I sincerely believe that that was the case why it happened. I'm deeply saddened. Sobrang naiiyak parin ako. Losing Dollar is like losing a family. The car owner offered to replace Dollar with a new puppy of the same breed but nothing can replace him. It's the emotional investment that makes him irreplaceable. I thank the Lord profusely for he saved my mom's life as she usually spends time with Dollar around that hour before she goes to the office. I don't want to think any more about what could have happened because God is so merciful that we still have my mom with us. I really love her and I pray everyday for our family's sake. After everything that happened, I just had to pray fervently for God's intercession to my family. Despite everything, the Lord holds true to his promise by keeping us safe and intact. That's why it really pays to be prayerful and live a life with strong faith and unwavering gratitude.

To our pet, Dollar, thank you for bringing happiness and security to our family. Please continue to look after us now that you're in heaven. We love you and we will miss you so much, precious! Now the Lord has rewarded you with a bigger playing field in heaven! Have a great time up there!

That's it for now,

Khaye :)