A Lesson In Loyalty

There's a movie coming out in May called, "Hachiko: A Dog's Story" starring Richard Gere. It's loosely based on a real dog named Hachi (which means "8" in Japanese - a lucky number) whose loyalty to his master became legendary in Japan. Hachi's master, a professor in Tokyo in 1925, went to work on a train every day leaving his beloved Akita dog there at the station to wait for him until he returned. Professor Ueno tried to get Hachi to stay home but his pet insisted on waiting there at the station until his master came back. One day, Professor Ueno had a fatal stroke at work and never returned. Confused, Hachi refused to leave. The station staff cared for him and tried to get the Akita to a new home but Hachi refused to leave the last place he saw the professor. Each day, Hachi would make his way back to the train depot to await his master's return. This continued for many years, during which time the story of the loyal dog who waited became legendary. Children visited Hachi, the statue became a popular meeting spot and tourists made special trips to the train station at Shibuya just to see this amazing dog. Finally, after eleven years, Hachi laid down at his customary waiting spot and died. Together at last. A year later, an artist erected a bronze statue of Hachi, whose loyalty knew no bounds and whose love for his master transcended life itself. The pictures below are of the real Hachiko (adding the suffix "ko" indicates an endearment) and his statue; the actual dog was stuffed and resides in a museum today. I'm not sure how the new movie will enhance the already famous story and...Richard Gere??? By the way, no way a CAT would ever do this! Oh well, if you want to read the true story, check out the following books: Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog by Pamela S. Turner or Hachiko Waits by Leslea Newman. Wonderful example of a dog's unwavering love for us ...much like my Sam. In fact, as I type he's right here next to me ....hello? Sam??? I guess he had something better to do. *sigh*