Roberto
12.01.2007 – 03.10.2016
Knapp 2 Jahre hatte der liebe Roberto in seinem neuen Zuhause in Rotterdam. Er wurde unglaublich geliebt und hatte eine tolle Mastino-Freundin, mit der er sich wunderbar verstanden hat.
Doch in letzter Zeit ging es ihm nicht gut: das Herz machte langsam schlapp.
Robertos Tod geht mir besonders zu Herzen, weil ich Teil der Fahrkette Ungarn/Holland war und ich mich immer gerne an diesen großen lieben Kerl und die lustigen Stunden mit ihm erinnert habe.
Beileidsschreiben fallen mir IMMER unglaublich schwer und wenn ich den betreffenden Hund und seine Menschen dann auch noch persönlich kenne, heule ich dabei Rotz und Wasser. Trotzdem habe ich versucht, meinen Worte so zu formulieren, dass Sylvia und Piet irgendwann, wenn der Schmerz nachgelassen hat, wieder mit einem Lachen an den Tag denken, an dem Roberto abgeholt wurde…
Unter dem obigen Link gibt es die Kurzversion des Mastino-Transports zu lesen. Hier folgt nun die ausführlichere Version:
Dear Sylvia, dear Piet,
I am terribly sorry for your loss.
As soon as I heard that you had to let Roberto go, I called Astrid…. and we cried our hearts out.
But soon we also shared tearful laughs when I remembered the few hours I spent with your darling boy.
I will always remember him as a charming and easygoing dog!
He brought the first smile to my face when he jumped into the boot of my small Nissan Almera…and I realized that he was way too large to close it’s lid.
„Out with you“, I said and led him to the back seat of my car… but if he was not allowed to curl up in the boot, Roberto was determined to drive by himself! Do you remember? He tried the same with your car, when you picked him up here in Bonn!
„NO, Roberto! Take the back seat!“
And so I pushed und pulled, and urged and pleaded, until he finally gave in and climbed back.
But his doggie seat obviously was not comfortable enough…and so he tried to rearrange the blankets on the back seat with his bear-like paws!
„NO, Roberto! Stop that! You are going to ruin my car!“
And so I grabbed a front paw and told him to lie down.
Finally, he did what I told him to do, but as soon as we were on our way, he decided that he did not lie in the right position…and so he tossed and turned…. and got tangled up in the safety belt!
„NO, Roberto! Stop that! You are going to strangle yourself!“
And so I pulled over, stopped the car, disentangled the dog…. and gave up.
„OH…do whatever you want to do! We have to get home!“
And do you know what happened next?
My mother turned in her seat, patted his large head, whispered sweet Italian things to him…. and Roberto lay down, closed his eyes and gently snored the whole way to my home… while the nice little Italian lady caressed him and talked to him, whenever he twitched in his sleep.
When we arrived here, you and Yasmina were still on your way to Bonn….. and we had to kill time.
First, we went for a little walk and Roberto carelessly bumped into parked cars, fences and hedges.
Then I gave him some water and dog food.
THEN I started to get worried because I had not heard from you or Yasmina.
Where was I supposed to put this gentle, but enormous dog?
To lead him upstairs was out of the question.
Knowing my own dogs, I told my husband to not only close the door to the back passage but to BARRICADE it.
Indeed, all four of them were NOT amused when a strange dog nonchalantly walked into the garden…completely ignoring all their barking and growling!
Worse still: he just walked into the house and calmly sniffed at the other side of the door!
„How dare he!“
That was Roberto par excellence: absolutely confident, unconcerned, friendly and cool as a cucumber.
I led him into my newly renovated bathroom where we had laid out some blankets and cushions… and he promptly bumped into the shower stall. Fortunately it is made of security glass. Nevertheless, it rattled fiercely. But even that did not bother him!
************
My dear Sylvia and Piet… why do I tell you all this?
Being fully aware that nothing can lessen your pain now, nothing can dry your tears.
But someday in the future you will be able to look back at the years you spent with your little pirate… you will remember all the beautiful and/or funny moments with Roberto and Yuma…. and you will be able to think of him with a warm, loving and thankful smile.
And I hope that you will also remember my little story and smile at that, too….
You two are such wonderful people.
We are thankful for the new life, the warm home and all the love you gave to Roberto. He surely had the best two years of his life with you and his beloved companion Yuma!
We wish you strength at this sad moment and send you our best wishes.
Still crying,
Grazi
