A little less than a year ago I lost my last Ridgeback, Jambo, to cancer. At one time I had six Ridgebacks ... one by one they succumbed to either disease (4), fighting (1) or conscience-less drivers (1).
Jambo was 13 when cancer, the most patient lion, finally caught him.
Jambo is a ki-Swahili word meaning "Hello." Looking back maybe I shoulda named him mWendawazimu (crazy person) . As a puppy Jambo lived at the edge of control ... smart to a fault yet totally fearless ... leaving me to wonder if all the indigenous dog-genes had been quite bred out of him. But he relaxed (somewhat) in old age and became a real gentleman, my 24x7 guy.
The fearlessness never left him, he just got bored more quickly.
Old age brought years of indignity with incontinence, hip-crippling arthritis and cancer. Jambo survived all 3 for the first round without once seeming depressed or discouraged. But while cancer had all the time it needed to rest, regroup and return with new energy, Jambo did not. Maybe the hardest emotional thing was feeling the life flow from his body while the vet finished what I'd told myself would never happen.
Golly I miss him.
Buriani, babu. Utkaa hapa katika ini wangu maisha.
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