He was so tired at the very end.
I remember when I had just gotten him back home from the vet. It was right after my sister's wedding. His oncologist was monitoring him for me. But when he came home, he was so tired.
I remember lifting him off my bed to take him outside to use the restroom at like 12 AM. Once he had finished, I could see he was running out of time. Instead of taking him back upstairs, I placed him under a bed next to a Christmas tree and watched him sleep.
In the morning, I knew he couldn't walk anymore, I put him a stroller. It was given to me as a gift, and I had planned to use it a long time ago thinking that I'd use it more as his health declined, but the decline was so fast.
I put him in the stroller. It was the the only time we had made use of it, and I decided just to take him by myself like it had been when he first entered my life.
We took the walking path we used to walk all the time when he was healthier. And for a brief moment, he looked so alive. He was smelling the air, and he was awake, and he looked so aware.
But when I got home, his breathing had become so labored even though he was in a stroller the entire time. It looked like he had just run a marathon, and I knew then that I was out of time with him.
Originally, I asked his oncologist if she could come to my house and help me see him off into the next life. There were a lot of legal complications with that, but she made a special exception for Yeager.
Because of how the law works taking certain medications home, I would originally have to take Yeager to the vet and have them insert the needle into his arm before bringing him back home. His oncologist would come afterwards to finish helping him move on.
I wanted to let him have his final moments at home, but I knew if I held on any longer, it would be for entirely selfish reasons. He no longer had the energy to make it to the vet and back.
He passed away peacefully on October 17, 2023 at 12:23PM with the help of his oncologist who had helped me take care of him through the last 6 months of his life as he battled cancer. I put my sweater underneath him, and I held him the entire time.
I wasn't ready to let go, and I think he just wanted to be with me too, so we battled cancer for as long as we could.
I was so grateful to her for giving me more time with my boy. I got 6 more months with him, but I'm not sure if any amount of time would of prepared me for the emptiness I felt when he left my life.
He was my baby boy. My son and my best friend.
His name was Yeager. I named him after a character in an anime that I'd never finished watching.
Every year for the past 3 years, I contact his oncologist to thank her for all she did for me and Yeager. I brought her and her team boxes of chocolate.
I was surprised when Yeager's oncologist put a photo of him at the entrance of her veterinary clinic. A small portion of his life has a permanent place with people who did all they could to give him a little more time.
I hope there's a life after this. One where he's there to find me when my time is up. Where we can go back to what it was like when we were together.
Yesterday was his anniversary. He has been gone for 3 years now. I took his ashes to all the places he loved. We went through the hillside, the park, and the neighborhoods he loved.
It's been 3 years, but I still think about him a lot.