陶喆歌迷会

    剛剛在LA度過了兩個禮拜的密集製作期，我正登上飛回台北的班機。這兩個禮拜之所以會如此的緊湊，是因為我同時間要搬出LA的住處，要處理一堆規劃裝箱的事宜。過去這幾年，好像我只要回到洛城 (雖然停留的時間不長)，我就會被一堆庸碌瑣事淹沒。儘管我希望可以多享受一些輕鬆時刻，但是似乎就只是不停的勞碌奔波。我的混音工程師、好友Craig 形容得好，我是把「一週當一年過啊」。如此的生活可以過得像是精力十足、精彩十分似的，但是很明顯的，這並不是我所想像或想要的樣子。不幸的，結果就只是事情太多、時間太少。但是，人生不就是這個樣子嗎?

    我心裡一直在思考著專輯的製作與概念，上個禮拜，我已經在Burbank的Glenwood錄音室開始跟幾個樂手進行專輯的器樂錄音。專輯製作的初期就好像一場戀愛的開端。你還摸不清自己跟對方的關係，甚至不了解自己在想甚麼。情感豐富卻又戒慎恐懼，深怕自己犯錯或失去所有。很多事被放大誇飾，經常會失去對事情的觀察能力。如果「愛是盲目的」這句話是真的，那對我來說則是創作過程常會讓我在製作的時候變得盲目。就像談戀愛一樣，我心裡充滿類似的情緒 : 熱情、恐懼、得意與困惑。於是，「折磨」就成了藝術與創作的同義詞。

    我們一開始的前兩天是先錄鼓手Shawn Pelton的部分。我大概從八年前就很欣賞他的鼓技，直到現在才有合作的機會。有些人可能不熟悉專輯製作流程，尤其是跟樂手合作的模式，所以我先解釋一下這部分。雇用這些頂尖樂手，並不保證一定會成功，或者會如你所願。你可能找到一個功績彪炳、技藝高超的樂手，但他並不適合你的音樂。有些樂手則是專擅某種曲風，當他們在演奏其他類型時，便會顯得有點憋手憋腳的。幾年前，我曾經為了一首歌要找一位木吉他樂手，有一個朋友介紹了他的吉他教授。這位吉他教授頗負盛名，同時他也任教於美國一流音樂學府。這應該不會有甚麼差錯吧 ? 嗯… 結果是錯得一蹋糊塗，他並無法為歌曲設計適合的樂句，即使我哼給他聽，他也彈不出來。但我也得說，他的態度其實是很專業的，也願意一再嘗試。然而，錄音室的租用時間有限，每超過一小時，就要再多花一百多塊美金，我不得已只能提早喊停，讓他先行離去。最後我知道我應該順從最初的感覺，不能雇用他，因為他事實上是位爵士吉他教授 (雖然我一開始就知道)，而不是搖滾/流行吉他手。你也許會好奇為何一個爵士樂手無法彈奏搖滾、流行或甚至是古典音樂呢 ? 當然這沒有任何定律，但是樂手 (就跟其他人一樣)有自己的風格、品味好惡與個人傾向。爵士樂手可能具備搖滾音樂的彈奏能力，但不一定具備搖滾音樂的感覺或態度。因此，讓適合的樂手可以跟適合的樂風相互配對是一件很重要的事，而這也是製作人要扮演的主要角色之一。這就像要幫電影選角一樣，導演跟選角導演在知道一個演員是否適合之前，要先研究並摸清一個演員的細微特質。

     Shawn為了這次的錄音，特別從紐約飛到洛城，所以我不想再從重蹈幾年前爵士樂手的覆轍。懷著既期待又怕被傷害的心情，我先到旅館接Shawn，然後我們在早上11點開始錄音。我們先花了一個小時調校聲音 (真鼓錄音的準備工作包括許多的麥克風擺位、音量檢測、鼓具調整、音頻設定等)，然後我們開始錄製我們的第一首歌【Just Can’t Believe】(暫定歌名)。此時，我心中的石頭總算放下，因為Shawn聽起來實在太棒了，一切正是我所期待的，甚至是超乎想像 ! 他打鼓的感覺與韻律跟歌曲完美結合在一起，他的鼓有一種很鮮明的特色，而這正是我一直想要的。這也歸功於Craig的好耳力與絕佳錄音技術。我原本也很擔心跟Shawn會不容易合作，因為紐約客的犀利態度是很出名的，但是事實上他是一個很貼心、凡事有條不紊的人，這有點出乎我的意料之外。總括來說，跟他在 A棚一起工作的那兩天就像是一場夢，我迫不及待想要讓大家聽到最後的成品。過去那一整個禮拜，我們跟許多優秀樂手合作錄製了低音吉他、吉他、踏板電吉他、電風琴、電鋼琴、電顫琴、甚至是真的馬林巴木琴。這真的是我長期以來最開心的一次錄音，很榮幸可以跟這些樂手工作，從他們身上我也學到很多寶貴的經驗 – 許多人還是我第一次合作的對象。與其我娓娓道來這些細數不盡的錄音過程，不如影像說明來得有用，因此我會將現場的側錄畫面上傳到幾個網站供大家瀏覽。然而，最痛苦的部分是過去這幾天還夾雜著打包與搬運的工作，這不僅對我的體力是個嚴峻的挑戰，甚至到晚上我還得用雙手來彈奏吉他。最後我只能縮短部分錄音時間，因為我的手實在無法施力了。

    有趣的一點是這張專輯少用了許多MIDI與取樣樂器，而增加了真實樂器演奏的部分。我並不是一開始就有如此打算，只是結果變成這樣了。這可能是因為我想要回到我的根源，想要讓一切回到搖滾樂團的現場演奏。現代的音樂人經常在爭辯要用甚麼方式進行或者甚麼會是比較好的。電腦改變了音樂製作與聆聽的方式，但是這並不意味著音樂因此變得更好。進入錄音室錄製真鼓、低音吉他與吉他(或其他需要的真實樂器)確實會提醒你音樂的本質是甚麼。每個樂器與樂手的不完美及獨特觸感會讓音樂活起來，聆聽者也許無法了解這些技術層面，但是他們的內心卻是可以明顯感受與欣賞的。我經常喜歡說一台普通鋼琴的現場錄音要比那些完美取樣、容量高達100GB的電腦軟體所發出的鋼琴音色來得好聽且有生命力。不幸的是，我們現在聽到的華語流行音樂 (及多數的流行音樂)有90% 都是這個樣子。許多年輕的音樂人與製作人甚至不太清楚這些樂器長甚麼樣子，以及它們在樂曲中的演奏及使用方式。我們擁有的只是數位版本與實物快照。假如最後所有的東西都可以被數位複製或標記，難道這就代表隱藏在這些東西背後的意義與情感也可以被「剪貼」嗎? 或者事實上，它們其實是兩碼事 ?

    有人說科技永遠是跟創作過程並存的。然而，關鍵是在於它被如何使用，是否因此激發出一些原創體驗。

     所有的歌都寫好了，接下來的幾個禮拜，我會進行歌詞、電腦程式編曲及吉他錄音的工作。我把這個階段稱為「豐滿」階段，在骨頭上鋪滿皮肉，讓內容更豐富。整個骨架已經安置好了，這將是呈現在我專輯中最細膩且最堅固的部分。雖然春節將近，我會花許多時間陪伴我的家人，但同時我也會繼續進行專輯的製作。不知道為什麼，我喜歡在假日工作，這可能是因為只有這時候，我才不會被一堆電話、電郵及其他會讓我分心的事物所影響。這是一段寧靜平和的時光，讓我可以完全逃離我們所居住的大環境，進入我的小世界裡。

    我希望你們在未來的幾週裡面，也可以享受到同樣的平靜與愜意。 我希望你們在牛年少些「吹牛」，可以擁有更多喜樂、覺醒、幸福與愛的真實時刻。

    新年快樂陶喆

Having just finished two very densely packed weeks of production in LA, I’m now aboard a flight back to Taipei. What made the two weeks even more challenging was that I was also moving out of my current residence in LA so there was a major amount of organizing and packing. Over the past few years, it seems that whenever I’m back to LA (however short the duration of my stay) I’m always very inundated with errands to run and things to take care of. As much as I’d like to relax and enjoy my time there, it seems more like a rat race for me. My friend and engineer, Craig, describes it best as “cramming a year of living” into a few weeks time. It can be very energizing and euphoric but it’s definitely not something I plan for nor something I necessarily always enjoy. Unfortunately, it’s a product of having too much to do with too little time. So what’s new, right?

As the concept and production of the album weighed on my mind, I officially began my overdubs last week with several musicians at Glenwood Studios in Burbank. The early stages of production of an album are very much like the early stages of a love affair. You don’t quite know how you stand with the other person nor do you know how you even feel. There is this great rush of emotion but at the same time you feel trepidation and fear in making the wrong move or losing everything. Things become magnified ten times, exaggerated, and often putting things into perspective becomes very difficult. If the saying “love blinds you” is true then in my case the creative process blinds me during production. And like in love, I am filled with all the similar emotions all at once: passion, fear, elation and confusion. Henceforth, the term “tortured” is often synonymous with artists and the creative process.

Our first two days of overdubs was with a drummer named Shawn Pelton. I’ve been an admirer of his playing for about 8 years but only until now had the chance to work with him. Now let me clarify one thing for all of you who aren’t familiar with album production and especially working with musicians. Hiring these top musicians doesn’t always guarantee success or what you want. The musician may have a ton of credits up his sleeve and be technically amazing but he might not be suited for your music. Some musicians play a certain style with ease yet stumble through another style of music. A few years ago, I was looking for an acoustic guitar player for one of my songs and a friend of mine referred me to his guitar professor. This guitar professor had quite a lot of sessions under his belt and was also a music professor at one of the leading music universities in the US. You can’t go wrong with a guitar professor, right? Well, turns out everything went wrong because he simply couldn’t come up with parts for the song or even play the ideas I had sung for him. In his defense, his attitude was very professional and he was willing to do take after take to get things right. However, studio time was ticking at over a hundred dollars an hour and so I had decided to end the session early letting him go. In the end, I realized that I should’ve went with my gut instinct and not hired him because he was actually a jazz guitar professor (which I did know at the outset) and not a rock or pop player. You might ask why can’t a jazz player play rock, pop or even classical? There are no set rules, of course, but musicians (like any other people) have their own styles, personal likes and dislikes, and idiosyncrasies. A jazz guitar might possess the technical ability to play a rock tune but he might not possess the right feel or attitude. Therefore, matching the right musician with the right style of music is very important and one of the key roles of the producer. Just like casting an actor for a part in a movie, the director and casting director must study and understand the nuances of an actor before knowing if he or she will be right for a part.

Shawn was flown in from New York to LA especially for this session and so I definitely didn’t want a repeat of what happened with the jazz guitar player a few years back. With both anticipation and trepidation, we started our session in the morning at 11am, as I first picked up Shawn from his hotel. After an hour of dialing in our sounds (setting up real drums for recording involves a lot of mic placement, level checking, drum adjustment, EQ’ing, etc.), we started on our first track “Just Can’t Believe” (working title). At that point, all my concerns were relieved as Shawn simply sounded amazing and just like I had hoped for and more! His feel and groove was laid back sitting perfectly in the track and his drums had a very signature tone that I’ve always craved for in my productions. Kudos also to Craig for his great ears and engineering! I had also worried that Shawn might be difficult to work with especially since New Yorkers are known for their edginess but he was a sweetheart and also very methodical which I didn’t expect. All in all, the two days with him in Studio A were a dream and I can’t wait for you guys to hear the final results. Over the course of the week, we did bass, guitar, pedal steel, organ, electric piano, vibraphone and even real marimba overdubs with some incredible musicians as well. It was the most musical fun I’ve had in a long time and it was such a pleasure and learning experience working with all the musicians-many of which I’ve worked with for the first time. I could go on and on in detail about the sessions, however, a picture is worth a thousand words and, so, I’ll be posting video up on various websites for you to watch. The most painful part, however, was that I was juggling packing and moving the last few days which not only was tough on my body but also on my hands which I needed to use in the evenings playing guitar. In the end, I had to cut a couple sessions short as my hands were simply out of strength.

It’s interesting to note that this album has the least amount of MIDI and sampled instruments and more of the real stuff. I didn’t purposely choose to go this direction but it’s just the way things turned out. Perhaps I felt I was returning to my roots and playing in a rock band that I wanted to keep everything live. Musicians now live in an age of constantly debating which way to go or which seems to be better. The computer age has definitely changed the way music is made and heard but it doesn’t always translate to better music. Going into the studio and recording live drums, bass and guitars (or anything real instrument for that matter) really reminds you what music is all about. The imperfections and individual touch of each instrument and musician breathes life into music and which is something the listener might not technically understand but definitely feels and appreciates on a gut level. I often like to say that a live recording of a not-so-great quality piano is still better and more organic than perfectly sampled 100GB software generated piano. Unfortunately, in Chinese pop music (and the majority of pop music for that matter) that is what we hear 90% of the time. It has come the point that a lot of younger musicians and producers don’t even know what some of these musical instruments look like let alone how they are played and used in music. What we are left with now are digital copies and snapshots of the real things. If everything eventually can be digitally cloned or imprinted, does that mean we can also “copy and paste” the meaning and emotions behind them? How does one thing exist without the other? Or are they, in fact, separate things?

With that being said, technology has always co-existed with the creative process and it forever will be. The key, however, is how it is utilized and whether it in turn generates something empirically original.

All the songs have been written and I will be working on lyrics as well as some programming and guitar overdubs over the next few weeks. This is what I call the “fleshing out” phase at which I put the meat and skin on the bones. The skeletal framework has been laid out and it’s some of the finest and most solid work that’s appeared on my albums. Even though Chinese New Year is around the corner, I’ll be working through it while spending quality time with my family. For some strange reason, I enjoy working during the holidays, as it seems like the only time I’m not blanketed with phone calls, emails and other distractions. It’s a tranquil and quiet period in which I can completely escape into my little world from the big world we live in. I hope many of you can experience this sense of serenity and relaxation during the upcoming weeks as well.
I wish the Year of the Ox brings you less “bull” and more genuine moments of joy, awareness, prosperity and love.

Happy Chinese New Year

DT

希望大家都平安健康。金融海嘯依舊持續它的破壞力，美國新總統出爐，全球政治社會動亂事件層出不窮，企求平靜竟是如此掙扎。不斷冒生的災難與問題讓人來不及解決，世界性的惡性循環正在加速進行。然而，我仍然抱持希望，只要我們繼續祈禱，做出正確的判斷與行動，事情應該就會有轉機。12月初對很多人來說是充滿期待的，對我來說也是如此。聖誕節跟新年即將到來，我未來幾個月的時間將會被新專輯的製作所佔據。2009年後半年，我則是會集中心力在我的電影上面，到時候我會再跟大家分享這部分的心情。

我之前如果還沒有提過，我現在就要告訴大家，新專輯大部分的歌都已經寫好了，我只要再寫大約三到四首歌，作曲的部分就可以告一段落了。下一個製作階段需要把歌詞寫完以及整合所有的編曲。這會是一張更重、更搖滾走向的專輯，因此我自己要比以前的專輯彈奏更多的吉他。這張專輯的概念在一年前就想好了，這期間雖然有些演變、調整，但是它的主軸依舊不變。我對這個專輯概念感到非常興奮，我只希望我可以將心裡的想法與感受忠實地傳達給你們。作為一張「概念專輯」代表有許多潛在的「言外之意」，但也希望這不要變成一種負擔。我一直不希望製作一張「為概念而概念」的專輯，或者換個比較平常的說法，這不是為了要聽起來很酷或很學院派。專輯的概念是為了要統整作品本身及其蘊含的情感，讓他們聚合成一個更具力量的總體。有些專輯是由一些互不相干的作品組合而成，但是這張專輯的多數作品都是由各自獨立卻又彼此關聯的概念或動機衍生而出。我想當專輯完成，你們也都聽到的時候，你們會比較清楚我的意思。

我不記得我有沒有公開講過，但是我知道你們有些人已經聽說了這個消息 – 我的狗 Lucky已經在前一陣子過世了。Lucky 由於心臟的問題，導致健康狀況不斷惡化，我們不得已只能決定在2008年10月30日那天讓牠安樂死。我當時人在亞洲，並無法回到洛城，只能由我的雙親及友人Joanna陪伴牠走完最後一程。

Lucky 大概四年前就開始有心雜音的問題。然而當時的醫生表示，這病並無法治療，只能持續觀察，希望不要再惡化。這幾年以來，Lucky並沒有因此有太大的異狀，只會偶爾乾咳或者看起來疲倦無力。除此之外，牠還是非常活潑好動，平常就喜歡到住家附近散步。有時候看到貓咪或松鼠，Lucky還是會想去追牠們，但我知道牠只是虛張聲勢罷了。我們並不清楚Lucky的實際年齡，但醫生從牠的牙齒判斷，牠應該是享年13歲。Lucky在台北的時候原本是隻流浪狗，在我父親的舊辦公室附近的巷子裡遊蕩。有一天，我父親決定買個房子給牠住。Lucky體型不大，也不兇狠，但牠很有自己的態度，牠在那一帶是個「街頭霸王」。我父親記得在我們還沒有帶牠回家之前，就經常看到Lucky跟其他的狗單挑，霸氣十足地領著一幫狗兒在街頭遊走。就跟一般流浪犬一樣，Lucky長年在外打滾，形塑了自己獨特的態度。但是在牠的主人或是少數可以信任的人身邊，牠的忠誠與貼心絕對是無與倫比的。牠在我父親的辦公室住了幾年，最後也搬進我們台北的住家；但是父親跟我還是決定幫Lucky辦移民，讓牠可以有更多的時間可以在洛城陪我。我仍然記得在那些歲月裡，Lucky會待在辦公室及錄音室裡陪我熬夜寫歌。既耐心、貼心又安靜，不管去哪裡，Lucky總是跟著我，牠應該和我一樣，喜歡晚上一起在公園裡散步吧。大家看到Lucky的時候，總是說牠看起來這麼年輕。尤其是牠剃毛之後，看起來就像是隻小小狗，當我說出牠的實際年齡，大家都會訝異不已。由於Lucky是隻流浪犬，所以牠也是隻混種狗。我們一點也不在意牠的血統，因為牠實在是太可愛、太帥氣、太貼心了。Lucky是隻非常簡樸知足的狗，牠不像其牠的狗會要東西吃，牠也不喜歡玩具。要牠啃骨頭幾乎是不可能的事情，這可能是因為牠跟很多流浪犬一樣牙齒不好。我猜牠唯一需要的是來自旁人的愛吧。有時候你只要含情脈脈地看著牠，牠就會像在微笑般地開心搖頭。Lucky去世前兩個月，心臟的問題開始讓牠不舒服，我們也注意到狀況逐漸惡化了。最初透過藥物還可以減輕牠的症狀，但大概在萬聖節前兩個禮拜的時候，一切開始變得有點欲振乏力。牠不再進食，有時還會尿失禁，甚至疲倦得不想出門。我們有向醫生諮詢，藉以尋求協助，但是我們好像已經看到路的盡頭了。這是個難以抉擇的時刻，我們不想看到Lucky 繼續受苦，不希望牠的生活品質消失殆盡。Lucky自己並沒有因此而煩躁，牠只是安靜地坐在牠的枕頭上，兩眼無神地空望著。我們不知道Lucky是不是很痛苦，但是我們知道牠不快樂。

當我的父母飛回洛城探望Lucky幾天後，在獸醫的同意之下，我父親做了最後的決定，要讓我們的愛犬注射安樂死。我父親選擇待在手術房外，而讓我母親跟Joanna送Lucky安心上路。

有養過寵物或是有經歷寵物去世的人應該都知道，看到牠們痛苦是件多麼傷心難過的事情。動物感受到的無助有時是比人類巨大的，因為牠們無法以言語表達。牠們無法自己做決定，因此只能由我們來照料一切。愛犬的去世讓我認知到生命是何等的脆弱，而我們最後都是要走到死亡的盡頭。
我們讚美生命，但當那刻降臨，我們也無私慷慨地讓它走吧。

陶喆

I hope this journal finds you all well. Amidst a devastating financial downturn, the beginning of a new US presidency and much continued political and social upheaval in the world, it’s a struggle to remain calm. The world seems to be exponentially spirally downwards with calamities and problems being borne faster than solutions can be thought up. However, I still have hope that we can make a difference if we continue with prayer and take action in the right direction.

The first of December brings a lot of anticipation for many people, including myself. With the arrival of Christmas and the New Year, my upcoming months will be preoccupied with the production of my album. During the latter half of 2009, I will turn my focus to my film, which I will share with you later on when the time comes.

If I haven’t already mentioned in previous statements, the majority of the songwriting for the new album has been completed and, so far, I only need to write 3 to 4 more tracks and the songwriting process will be complete. The next stage of my production entails working on lyrics as well as putting the arrangements together. This will be a heavier, more rock oriented album and, therefore, I’ll be playing more guitar myself than on previous albums. The concept of this album has evolved quite a bit since its inception a year ago though the core has not changed. I’m very excited with the concept of this album and I only hope that I can dutifully translate it from my mind and heart for you. Being that it’s a “concept album” means that there’s much more than what is on the surface while, hopefully, not being a burden to it. I’d never want to make a concept album simply for the sake of making one or, even less nobly, for the sake of being cool or academic. The concept of the album should serve to unite the songs and emotions so that they come together to form a more powerful sum of the parts. Some albums are comprised of songs that have little bearing to each other but, on this album, most of the songs evolved from a singular yet related “concept” and motif. I think once the album is completed and in your hands you’ll understand more clearly what I’m talking about.

I don’t recall making any public statements on the recent passing of my dog, Lucky, but I gather that some of you may have heard about it somehow. On 10/30/08, Lucky was put to sleep as he was in very poor health due to a previous heart condition. I was in Asia at that time and couldn’t return to LA but my parents flew back and alongside a friend, Joanna, accompanied Lucky in his final days.

We had known that Lucky had a heart murmur condition as far back as 4 years ago. However, this was something the doctors said could not be treated and was something we could only observe and hope wouldn’t worsen. As the years went by, Lucky didn’t seem to be affected very much with only a few symptoms such as hacking and some occasional languidness. He was still very much playful, active and would enjoy walks around the neighborhood. Seeing the occasional cat or squirrel he would still want to give chase even though I knew it was more to demonstrate his bravado. We were never really sure how old Lucky was but from his dental condition the doctor guessed that he would have been around 13 years old when he passed away. Lucky was a stray dog in Taipei who used to roam the alleys around my father’s old office until one day my dad decided to buy him a house and take him in. Lucky wasn’t a large or menacing dog but he held his own and was a “street fighter” in the neighborhood. Before we took him in, my father used to always recall seeing Lucky head to head with other dogs or proudly leading a pack of dogs down a street. Like any “street” dog, Lucky had a certain edge about him shaped by the years of living amongst the elements. However, around his master and the few people he trusted, his loyalty and sweetness was unmatched. After a few years living at my dad’s office and then eventually at our Taipei home, my dad and I decided that we would immigrate Lucky to Los Angeles to spend more time with me there. I still remember the days when Lucky would accompany me at my office and studio, staying up late with me during my late night writing sessions. Patient, understanding and quiet, Lucky would follow me wherever I went and I enjoyed our late night walks around the park near my studio probably just as much as he did. One thing that everybody always remarked when they saw Lucky was how young he appeared to be. Especially after a trim, Lucky looked like he was just a baby and people were always shocked when I revealed his true age. Because he was a stray, Lucky was a mix of quite a few breeds. We never really cared what the exact mix was but just that he was adorable, handsome and so considerate. Lucky was a very frugal and content dog, he never begged for food like most dogs do and didn’t like to play with toys at all. Getting him to chew a bone was nearly impossible and because of that his teeth suffered as with many strays. I guess the only thing that Lucky needed was love from the people around him. Sometimes if you were to just look in his eyes with affection that would seem to make him happy as he would tilt his head slightly as if smiling.

The two months before Lucky’s passing was when his heart began to trouble him and when we started to notice things changing for the worse. He was put on medication at that point which seemed to relieve certain symptoms but two weeks before Halloween it seemed that nothing we did helped much. He stopped eating, sometimes had difficulty controlling his urinating, and was too tired to even walk out of the house. We consulted the doctor several times but it seemed that we had reached the end of the road. It was a very tough moment for all of us but we didn’t want to see Lucky suffer and his quality of life diminish to nothing. Lucky didn’t make a fuss about anything and just quietly sat on his pillow often staring into space. We didn’t know if Lucky was in pain but we knew he wasn’t happy.
A few days after both my father and mother flew back to see Lucky, my dad made the final decision along with the consent of the veterinarian to put our loved dog to sleep via injection. My dad chose not to be in the operating room so my mom and Joanna stood by to see Lucky off.
Those of you who have or have had pets and have seen them pass away know the sadness and difficulty in seeing them in pain. The helplessness an animal experience is sometimes greater than a human as they can’t express themselves verbally. They can’t make the voluntary decisions and, thus, leave us to their care. The passing away of even a dog reminds me of how fragile life is and how inescapable we all are from mortality.
Let us celebrate life but also unselfishly and graciously let it go when the time comes.