Farewell to a dog
For my niece, Kimia
March 22, 2005
iranian.com
Kim's dog, Blossom, died last Thursday, apparently of a brain
stroke, and left us a huge void. A beautiful, gentle, smart, and
eternally playful golden retreiver,
Blossom was considered the fourth member of my sister's family, and for some
eight long years she was their guardian angel, barking at any stranger even
approaching their home, in Palo Alto, California. So, as we celebrate
Nowrooz and the dawn of the new year, my family is grappling with
the sadness of Blossom's untimely departure.
Of dogs and humans, so much has been written of the unique ability
of the two species to forge close bonds of friendship and solidarity,
not as master and
pet, but as companions. My sister thinks that Blossom died of immense sadness
caused by Kim's new life at a distant university, a viable theory. But, it
could well have been caused by Blossom's distance from a new
friend she had picked
up as of late, a relative's male dog with whom she had gone from intense
hostility to intense attachment in a matter of few months.
Whatever
caused it, one thing
is for sure: Blossom lived an enviable life, well-fed and well-groomed
and immensely loved, no comparison with the wretched condition
of
most dogs in Iran, where
they are often the object of vilest creulties, especially by children,
who are taught that the Prophet disliked dogs and liked cats instead.
 I, for one, grew
up in Shiraz, witnessing, and at a couple of occasions even taking part,
in dog lynching, just out of pure fun, as if hitting them with
stones
and make them
bark in pain meant pleasure for us, the more the better. I often wonder
if
the roots of cruelty in our society does not rest with our
cruelty toward animals,
dogs in particular. The day we pass a law banning animal cruelty in Iran
is the day we have made a huge stride against capital punishment
in
the country.
Back to Blossom. She had fine ears for music, loved to sit
under the table where my sister's husband played sentoor,
and would
beg to be let in from the yard
whenever she would see him carrying his sentoor case from one room
to another. Blossom was an avid sport dog and ran wicked fast
to catch freezbis or
balls thrown in the air, and boy she LOVED swimming in
the pool, although lately
she had fallen out of that.
What will Summer be like at my sister's home, at her fabulous
cookouts with children searching frantically for and
calling Blossom without receiving
an answer? So
many little girls and boys in the family will be heartbroken, no
doubt.
May her soul blossom in the heavens.
For my niece, Kimia Author
Kaveh Afrasiabi has a Ph.D. in political science. He has
authored a number of books, fiction and non-fiction, and numerous
articles -- including the Harvard Theological Review, Middle
East Journal, UN Chronicle, and The New York Times. He
is the author of: After
Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (Westview Press,
1994).
.................... Spam?! Khalaas!
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