IT FELT JUST YESTERDAY WHEN CLEO WAS FOUND BY MY STEPDAD WHILE WORKING ON THE SIDE OF A COUNTRY ROAD. HE WAS ABOUT 4 WKS OLD. SOME ONE JUST DUMP HIM THERE. WELL, HE WAS A BLESSING TO OUR FAMILY. I LOVED HIM AND MY SON TOO. WHEN HE WAS GETTING BIG, HE FOLLOWED ME TO THE BUS STOP TO PICK MY SON UP BUT NEVER TRY TO GET CLOSE TO THE HIGHWAY. HE STAY BY THE NEIGHBORS SWINGS WHERE MY SON PLAYS AND IT WAS FAR FROM THE ROAD.
EVERY MORNING HE PEAKED TO LOOK INSIDE FROM THE DOOR READY FOR HIS FOOD. HE KNEW I AWAKEN UP TO FEED HIM, AND DO THE SAME THING IN THE EVENING I ALWAYS SAW HIS BIG HEAD LOOKING AT ME.
ONE SPRING DAY I WENT TO A JAZZ CONCERT AT THE COLLEGE WITH MY SISTER AND HER BOYFRIEND. IT WAS A SATURDAY NIGHT AND CAME HOME LATE. I DIDN’T CLEO EATEN HIS FOOD. I SAID HE IS WONDERING AROUND AGAIN. MY STEPDAD CAME AND TOLD ME THAT HE HAD SOME BAD NEWS TO TELL ME AND I SAID YOU BETTER NOT BE JOKING. HE SAID NO I AM NOT AND THEN THE BAD NEWS CAME OUT AND HE SAID CLEO IS IN HEAVEN. I WAS FELT MY HEART WAS STRUCK BY A KNIFE. I SAID HOW? HE SAID HE WAS RAN OVER BY A CAR OR TRUCK,ON THE HWY. I SAID IT CAN’T BE, NEVER TOUCHES THAT HIGHWAY. MY STEPDAD COULDN’T GET HIM THAT NIGHT SO HE LEFT HIM ON THE SIDE OF THE DITCH CAUSE THE TRAFFIC WAS BAD. HE PICKED HIM UP SUNDAY MORNING AND BURIED HIM. I TOLD HIM, HE COULDN’T LEAVE HIM OUT THERE BECAUSE HE BROUGHT HIM TO ME AND MADE HIM PART OF OUR FAMILY. NOW WE SHALL BURY HIM WITH RESPECT. WE MISS HIM AND HE ALWAYS BE “MY CLEO”.
WITH LOVE,
| CLEO |
| RACHEL ORTIZ |