essay by mike hj chang
Juka loves Bacon as much as I love Bacon. There is no doubt about it.
It’s crazy to think that for the last 8 month, Bacon has been 6 feet or less away from me 95% of the time. We wake up together, walk together, go to art classes together, read together, and play together. He waits for me outside the bathroom while I pee. We often take walks outside so he can do his business. We sleep in the same bed, drive in carpool lane. We even go shopping together at pet stores. It's gonna be weird when he moves to Japan. I would have no reason to look down on the floor anymore. At 1 foot and a half, Bacon is pretty short. Sometimes people call him “Shorty” or “Little Buddy”.
He has been like a brother to me. He makes me laugh. He makes me relax when I am tense. He makes me look forward to the next day. He makes me more confident about myself. In school he says hi to everyone. So I say hi to everyone, too.
He is going to Japan to live with his mom, Juka. It's funny because he doesn't even know anything about Japan, but I have no doubt that he will do pretty well. He has a strong little heart.
But what if Juka was a bad mom to Bacon. Just what if?
What if she treats him like a dog and doesn't kiss him goodnight?
What if she leaves him at home half of a day so he has to pee on those indoor pads for dogs that have irresponsible pet owners that seldom take their dogs for a walk, and I know Bacon he loves that walk.
What if she yells at him for peeing on the floor when he doesn't mean to, only because he is just so happy to see her? (And he does that from time to time)
What if she makes him sleep alone I never let him sleep by himself even when my bed is small.
What if she doesn't let him go play with his friends and therefore he becomes anti-social and like those dogs that shakes and tremble upon any social situation?
What if he becomes those whining ungrateful son of a bitch, and worst yet, untrustworthy of humankind? What if he runs away and gets hit by a truck or starves to death on the street because he is just a little guy who never lived in the wilderness.
Then without a doubt, I would take Bacon and disappear on the face of the earth. I would do it! There would be no looking back. I would throw away everything and cut off contacts and make new friends and get a new cell phone with a plan called “Out of Range Advantage”. Then we could go really far.
Where would we go? Probably somewhere grassy. He likes to run around on grass. He likes to chase after grasshoppers. He also likes open spaces. He likes to explore for a little bit on his own before he runs back to me.
Maybe we would live in a camping tent. Maybe we would just sleep outside. It doesn't really matter because we are together, from morning till night when we can't see each other anymore. Or maybe I will bring a flashlight.
If I play music I would bring a harmonica, because I adore Bob Dylan. Bacon doesn't really care what music I listen to or who my favorite writers are. He doesn't even know that I am an artist or my background. It matters not to him that I may be a mailman, a teacher, or a business entrepreneur. Because essentially it doesn't matter; he likes me because it’s me, not what I do. And that feels good. I wish relationship between people could be that simple. (I do wish sometimes if I was a lawyer and had lots of cash I would buy Bacon the best food and the funniest toys)
But none of this would be a concern because Juka is a great mom. She washes him better than I can. She knows how to keep his ear clean. She gives him good hair cut. She teaches him Japanese. She even knows how to make birthday cake for dogs. Bacon would be just fine without me.