Tony's prompt!

Hi everyone:
I hope, since almost everyone started school this week, that things have been going well. In the spirit of continuing our little project, Tony (who has just recently joined!) submitted a prompt for this week, and it follows. But, before I go, I wanted to submit another call for volunteers for next week's prompt (and the weeks after that). Help us keep the dream alive! :)
Tor

Here's Tony's prompt:

"I was reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being today on my roof. I'm at the end of the book, in Part Seven, Karenin's Smile. The section is ostensibly about the death of Tomas and Tereza's dog, Karenin. Sorry if I ruined the book for you. In any event, Tomas and Tereza are living in the communized countryside of Czechoslovakia, when they find out Karenin has aggressive cancer. He has little time left. When Tereza is asked why Karenin is not with her on her daily walk to the local bakery, she starts to cry. The baker says, "Good heavens! Don't tell me you're going to bawl your head off over a dog!" Kundera goes on to explain that the woman's reaction was that of someone forced by the Communist regime to de-love dogs; animals of all types, really. It's more complicated than that, obviously, but I didn't study literature. Nonetheless, I need to frame my question with this little bit of the story because I want to ask:

Have you ever loved something you felt foolish for loving? That's not the real question, but this passage made me think about burying my dog, and I wanted to write about it. Why was it so traumatic? After all, maybe we're simply the animals' administrators as ordained by God. Maybe we're not, but why can't we simply turn off our impulse to love something: a place, time, or pet, despite our minds' ability to understand the logic behind death and decay? I guess I'm asking people to write about that. Just pick something you had to give up, by choice or by the slow movement of time. That is all."

And he's already posted! You can find Tony's blog on our blogroll - it's called "Morumnida - But I'm Trying".