I Got My Oscar Back

They say dogs choose their humans — maybe that’s true, because mine came into my life right when I needed saving.

I received Oscar in 2017 — not for any performance, but for my messed-up life. And no, I’m not talking about the golden Oscar award, you guys. I’m talking about my dog friend, Oscar.

At that time, I was going through one of the darkest phases of my life. My brother sensed how broken I was. He wanted to make me smile again, to give me something that could pull me out of my endless thoughts. So one day, he showed up with the sweetest surprise ever.

He came to pick me up from my office. His friend was sitting in the front seat, so I took the back. I noticed something wrapped in a piece of cloth beside me. As I tried to move it aside, it suddenly moved! I screamed, and the car burst into laughter. My brother found my reaction hilarious.

When I looked closely, I realized the “mystery thing” was actually a tiny, cutie-patootie Labrador puppy. The moment our eyes met, my heart melted. I held him close, and he instantly snuggled on my lap. Within minutes, he fell asleep on my shoulder like a baby. That warmth… that innocence… it felt like life had just hugged me back.

Oscar was a naughty little fluffball. He’d sneak into the kitchen, pull down all the boxes from the shelves, and proudly sit on them. He’d chew on slippers, tear newspapers, and run from one room to another like a tornado. But amidst all that chaos, he brought light into my dark world.

Sadly, that joy didn’t last long. Just a week later, Oscar fell terribly ill. He was diagnosed with distemper — a deadly disease in dogs, something like cancer in humans. Our hearts shattered. He could barely walk. My brother and I visited every vet we could find. Saving Oscar became our only mission.

He survived — our brave little fighter. But the disease left its scars. People told us to abandon him, saying he wouldn’t live long and be a burden. But how could we? He needed us, and we chose to stay.

Oscar became bedridden and required constant care. The doctors said he’d live only a year. Still, we gave him everything we could. Our lives revolved around him. For eight long years, we never went out together because someone always had to stay with Oscar. Honestly, we never complained. He was our world. He taught us countless life lessons — about resilience, unconditional love, loyalty, patience, and finding joy in the simplest moments.

Last October, we shifted to a new house. Just a month later, Oscar passed away. He was seven.

The silence that followed was unbearable. Our home felt hollow — lifeless. We had lost not just a pet, but a piece of our hearts.

And then, something beautiful happened.

A street dog from across the road started visiting our house. The strange part? He had never come to us when Oscar was alive. He appeared the very next day after Oscar’s death.

As the Bhagavad Gita says — the soul never dies; it only changes bodies. That truth hit me differently this time. Somewhere deep down, I knew — our Oscar was back.

We call this new friend “Oscar” too. His face is almost the same — those innocent eyes, that unconditional love, that familiar warmth. He visits us several times a day. We feed him just like before. We even kept buying dog food — it’s still on our monthly grocery list.

Maybe souls really do find their way back to love.

Because I got my Oscar back. ❤️

PS : Losing a pet is like losing a part of your soul. But sometimes, the universe has a magical way of healing that pain — by sending the same love back in a different form. If you’ve ever loved and lost a furry friend, maybe you’ll understand what I mean.