by Sara Reda Vinci

Created on: December 14, 2007

CHICO AND THE MAN

We had gotten Chico when he was just a tiny pup. He was mixture of Labrador and German Sheppard , he was lively and very playful, he was pure joy, he livened our lives and everyone else's that walked through our door.
As soon as Chico was old enough my husband who had gotten in the habit of coming home for no reason at all to play with the PUP, decided that Chico was old and brave enough to be the Guard Dog at the Service Station we owned..

Chico took to his new job incredibly well and was the best guard dog ever, he knew all the clients and had a friendly bark for each and every one of them. He also had his own particular growl when a new customer drove on the ground that alerted Tony that someone unknown was coming in.
Tony would always order two hamburgers, no fixings for Chico every night and after a long series of hugs and kisses Chico was off to sleep in his favorite chair to continue his night watch.
Tony and Chico were always together, we often thought that Chico would soon be repairing cars himself, he was so attentive to everything Tony did.
Then one day, Tony had to leave on a 21 day trip to Europe, the two friends said their good-byes, Tony kept turning around to give Chico another hug and finally off he went.
The service station employees, did everything they could to keep Chico happy, however after a few days they noticed Chico had stopped eating, Chico had stopped running and the barking also lessened. They called home and alerted me to changes in Chico, I brought him home for a few hours but Chico insisted to go back to the service station. I tried to coax him into eating and drinking but there was nothing to do. There was no consoling Chico, he would lie on the ground looking up at a picture of Tony that was on a wall and moan non stop, with desperate sighs.
I decided to call Tony in Europe and tell him of our problems with Chico, Tony was devastated he insisted on talking to Chico, as soon as Chico heard Tony's voice his tail wagged without stop, a gleam of joy returned to his sorrowful and eyes, and I am sure I saw him smile. I quickly asked someone to order hamburgers as Chico shook with joy and ran frantically in circles around the office. Chico ate and slowly drank a bit, he played ball and for awhile everything seemed to be fine.
Next morning however Chico was again crying and moaning in front of Tony's picture, I became extremely concerned Chico seemed very despondent. I brought Chico to the Vet, he informed me that Chico was

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