Saying goodbye16 pages
You'll be back anyway — Jerico
Returned to a shelter three times, Jerico learned to trust again—and to give hugs. A story of eleven years together and a familiar bark after goodbye.
Spoken: Jerico! I'm going home!
Jerico thinks: I see that.
Jerico thinks: What's the point? You'll be back anyway.
Jerico thinks: The first time, I thought they'd forgotten me. I kept watching the door.
Jerico thinks: The second time, I didn't follow as far.
Jerico thinks: By the third time, I knew the way back.
Jerico thinks: Someone's coming again.
Narration: His name was on the euthanasia list.
Jerico thinks: This time, nobody said “home.” Okay. I’m done waiting.
Spoken: Hi, Jerico.
Jerico thinks: …Heaven? They know my name here.
Narration: He was rescued in Oklahoma. I adopted him when he came to Wisconsin.
Spoken: You're home, Jerico.
Jerico thinks: …Time to go?
Spoken: This is yours.
Jerico thinks: I'll sleep here. Easier when it's time to leave.
Jerico thinks: Why is this person on the floor? There's a perfectly good couch.
Narration: The next day, too. And the day after that.
Spoken: Is this okay?
Jerico thinks: …Just for a little while.
Spoken: Wait here for me.
Jerico thinks: …I stay here?
Spoken: I'm home!
Jerico thinks: Still no one asking me to go. Maybe one more nap.
Jerico thinks: We haven’t had our hug today.
Spoken: Oh, what's this?
Jerico thinks: Nothing. It's my turn.
Spoken: Jerico! Easy— Okay, okay. I'm here.
Jerico thinks: Thunder? No. I can't do thunder. You'll have to hold me for this one.
Narration: Back then, all I hoped for was ten years with him.
Jerico thinks: I still liked sleeping by the door. It’s where you came back to me.
Narration: I had hoped for ten years.
Narration: We got eleven.
Jerico thinks: I heard you. Could you come to me today?
Narration: Cancer took his ability to walk and spread to his stomach. We tried different meds. Nothing helped.
Jerico thinks: My person is on the floor again.
Narration: The night before goodbye, I made him steak. We couldn't let him get any worse.
Narration: Still, I felt I hadn't done enough. What if there was something I hadn't thought of?
Narration: After he was gone, the door still opened every day.
Narration: Rumble…
Narration: That night, no one jumped into my arms. I stayed awake anyway.
Narration: For so long, I kept expecting to see him lying there.
Narration: It's been three years.
Spoken: Jerico.
Narration: So he knows I haven't forgotten him.
Narration: Once, after he was gone…
Narration: Woof!
Spoken: …Jerico?
Narration: I swear it was his bark. I never heard it again.
Jerico thinks: Before, I always got sent back.
Jerico thinks: This time, I just came back for a hug.
The story behind the comic
A free custom pet comic,
inspired by Jerico.
We create free personalized pet comics from the photos and memories you share—celebrating their little habits, your life together, and the love that stays.
Jerico was rescued from Oklahoma after being returned to a shelter three times. He had been scheduled for euthanasia before he was rescued and brought to Wisconsin, where his person adopted him. Frightened of almost everything, he slowly learned to feel safe as they sat on the floor and held him. Soon he had his own way of giving hugs: walking over and pressing his head firmly into them.
He was terrified of rain and thunder. His person stayed awake holding him until the storms passed. They had hoped for ten years together and were given eleven, before cancer left him unable to walk and spread to his stomach. On the evening before goodbye, his person made him steak.
Three years later, they still miss the boy who used to lie by the door. Once, they were sure they heard his distinctive bark downstairs. Inspired by their account, this comic imagines Jerico’s thoughts as he learns what it means to come home—and to give a hug back.
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