An old message I came across while deleting messages from my mobile:

Sender:
Mamma
+919826126765
Message centre:
+919826012311
Sent:
31-Aug-2004
20:32:56
Hope ur ok.
Pls don’t wory abt
Snpy/me. We r
both ok. He hd
haf cup milk mixd
with van icecrm
wile ago. Lots lv

Snoopy died a week later. Is there a Murphy’s Law on death? Something like ‘You will never die when you are sick and expected to pop it’ followed by a corollary ‘ You will definitely die when you have recovered and are hale and hearty’.

It has been a while now and I should have been able to accept Snoopy’s death. I have, I think, at some level. But I still ache to cradle him in my arms. To smell his skin, the sweetest doggy smell ever. To kiss him on his forehead. To have him sleep with me on my bed, warming my feet. To tickle him when he is sleeping. To wipe off his slurpy wet licks from all over my face. To irritate him and blow wind into his ears…..

Where do you apply if you want to extend the mourning period for someone?