10 Promises To My Dog

So last night I happened to switch places with my girlfriend (she was watching some dramas on the PS3 and I was gaming in our PC) and I sit down and kind of look around the site she was at. I jumped over to the Japanese movies section and I played the first thing that caught my eye.

How can you ignore a pup with a face like that right?

It was a very good movie, though it is a sad tale, it is also very touching all the way through. And it struck very close to home for me and as the movie progressed, I could relate to Akari (who grows up through the course of the movie) in that she began to neglect her pup as she grew up. Life changes, interests changes and things just don't stay the way they were.

Hell I felt guilty maybe as much as the character did at the end!

Akari brings Socks to visit her mother for the first time.

My own relationship with my dog is somewhat similar to Akari's with Socks. I had got Brindy just as my Grandma was diagnosed with cancer and she had just returned from being here on Oahu for more then a year due to her condition. She passed away shortly after returning home. But she got to meet Brindy, if only for a brief moment in time.

And Brindy was around for just a little over 10 years (about 12 really) and we sure did grow up together. I remember the first day she was brought home. I never experienced having a dog before, so I was more then a little timid. And she had an attitude. She'd growl and snap at me and I just didn't like her at all. What a bitch!

But as time went on, we got along better and better. My folks would yell at her and she'd run away to her house. I'd try to scold her and she'd just jump up on my side and wag her tail like she was the happiest dog around.

I remember times when my step dad would scream and yell at me and I'd walk out to get away. I'd go and sit next to Brindy and she'd just happily sit next to me and be her happy self. Whenever I'd try to leave, she'd bolt up and jump up on my side, as if trying to get me to stay longer.

How I miss those days...

I may not have made the 10 promises to her, but a lot of what was said surely were true no less.

What could make me relate to Akari so much was when the character grows up and leaves home. I can't say for sure if I grew up (matured) myself, but I did leave home at 18 and I never really made it back to visit my folks that much and so I never really saw Brindy that often either. I felt bad about not being able to go home, more so when I began to hear about how time and illness was getting to her.

Akari and Socks, years later.

All of these memories stirred up during the course of this movie and I couldn't help myself as tears worked themselves up in my eyes. It made me feel so bad for not visiting my old friend, but it also reminded me of all the good things about that crazy old dog of mine. I am glad to have stumbled onto this movie and I'd recommend anyone who loves dogs to go and make it a point to see this one.