Mailman receives a letter from the owners of his favorite dog when she passed away.

I was just listening to the song of REM Everybody Hurts and it reminds me how everyone in this life must suffer. Everyone in this life must struggle. Everyone in this life must go through tough times. One of the things that cause us pain is death itself. Death is a process of life that we all have to go through sooner or later. What is very hurtful is separating from someone we love. Though death is a natural process of transformation we tend to mourn the loss of someone. Why? Because we are very used to having the presence of that person or animal in our lives, and when they are gone we don’t know how to perceive it.

I remember the first time that I encountered death. I was about seven years old and my grandmother passed away. I will remember that day forever. I woke up around noon and my house was all quiet. The TV was off. The birds were not singing. Even my brother and sister were quiet. I could feel a strange, bitter smell in the air. Then my mother came along the house and told me the news. At first, I didn’t know how to feel about it. I could not perceive it. I would never meet my grandmother again, never hear her voice or see her face. It was odd to me.

But when it hit me, then I started understanding why everyone around me was crying. After that, the first time I cried when someone dear passed away, was when my dog of seven years died. He was a German shepherd and I loved him. So it hurt so much to know that I would never play with him again. I can imagine how this mailman felt when his favorite dog passed on. Fernando would play with Gretchen every morning when he would deliver the mail. He would even give her some snacks every day.

And everyday Gretchen would wait by the porch for Fernando to come. They were practically best friends. Until one day that Fernando came by the house and didn’t see Gretchen there. Instead, he found a letter from the owners thanking him for playing with Gretchen and giving her snacks every day, and bitterly informing him that she had passed away.

Fernando was heartbroken. The owners, Cimino family, had also specified that Fernando could give the snacks that Gretchen didn’t get to have to the other dogs on his way.

Hurt, Fernando took a photo of the letter and sent it to his sister. She posted it on Twitter and the post went viral. People were so touched by the close relationship that Fernando and Gretchen had with each other. They started commenting on all kinds of things.