​There he was my father sitting in his favorite black, leather chair. I walked right up to him with a big smile as I bent over giving him a hug. He looked at me with his misty, gray eyes, “There’s my favorite boy.”

I gave my father a small smile as I held back the tears that started to form. It was hard seeing him like this, and after just losing my best friend; my wife. “I can’t believe I lost her dad. She was my best friend.”

My dad lifted up his right hand placing it on top of mine as he looked longingly to the side as if he was recalling his favorite memories. “I had a best friend once. His name was Scout, he was always with me. Through thick and thin,” a small chuckle escaped his lips.

I sat down onto the ground as I looked up at him with beady eyes as if I was a little kid again, listening to one of his old stories. My father cleared his throat as he continued his story.

“We first got Scout at the pound, it was no place for a loving German Shepherd like him to stay. I was only 14 at the time and he just turned 1, and I didn’t have many friends around that age. I would get bullied and picked on at school by the other kids in my grade, I was considered an outcast. Scout was my safety blanket. He was always there for me when I needed him. When I’d come home crying from school because the kids at lunch would throw mashed potatoes in my face. Scout would be there waiting for me with his favorite chew toy in his mouth, and when he saw me his whole face would light up. I was his world and he was mine.

During the weekends we would go on walks together around the neighborhood, and when we reached the dog park I would take him off his leash and throw around his favorite tennis ball. We would play fetch for hours until the street lights turned on. When I was with Scout I was the happiest I ever was.

A few years passed, and this is around the time your old man was turning 17 and that was when I met your mother. Oh how gorgeous she was when I first saw her. Her voice was like music to my ears, as she spoke. The teacher assigned us as partners for a fruit battery project. Your mother definitely had all the brains when it came to chemistry, I knew nothing. I invited her over to my place so we could work on the project together, and that’s when she met Scout and where I can truly say I fell in love with her. Scout loved her and she loved Scout. As we worked on the project we talked the day away and took breaks to hangout with Scout too. He was definitely my wingman and helped me get your mother to date me.

Your mother and I went on many dates after that and I still hung out with my best friend, sometimes even brought him along on the dates but that was your mother’s doing. I still believe she loved him more than me.”

I smiled at my father as I listened to his story as the memories of me and wife flooded through my mind. The good and the bad. I would be lying if I didn’t say I missed her. My father continued on;

“When I turned 19 my mother became very ill and was diagnosed with cancer. It was the hardest 5 months of my life, I shut everyone out including your mother. I even pushed away Scout, which I regret the most. I didn’t let anyone in no matter how hard they tried. I would visit my mother everyday until she took her last breath. I remember it as if it were yesterday; I sat in the hospital room as she laid in the bed with all sorts of wires connected to her. It looked as if they were running experiments on her and everything they tried to cure her with was only worsening it. I updated her about my life as she laid there silently until the clock struck midnight and all I heard was the sound of her heart monitor flat lining. I rushed out the door screaming for a doctor, but it was too late she was already gone. That was the first time I experienced the hurt of death’s touch.

Throughout the couple of months I was a wreck, but luckily I had Scout by my side. I would cry with him, talk to him as if he were a person. He was always there for me, and I couldn’t thank him enough for helping me through that tough time in my life.

It was only 4 months after my mother had passed away, me and Scout were on one of our usual walks. When we got to the park I took him off his leash and we played fetch like the good old days, but I must have thrown the ball too far. It rolled into the streets and my poor boy chased after it. He didn’t see the car coming, but I did.”

Tears rolled down my father’s face as he finished his story. I quickly stood up wrapping my arms around him. Tears flooded my eyes as we held each other in our arms. “Death is truly a force to not upset, because he will always take away the people you love.”