I've had a few close ones that died... All 4 grandparents, 2 close friends from highschool, 1 from college, however, I think the one that had the biggest impact on my life was my dog, Spike.
Thing about Spike, he was supposed to be a guard dog, a pet to protect our home, yet still a part of our family. Well, he wasn't exactly the guard type, his friend, Suki, was. Spike instead spent pretty much every day with her when I wasn't home, then every moment he can with me. I would take him places, he would go running with me, he'd even join in on my Track team and run upwards to 10 miles alongside my team and myself. Everyone loved Spike so much...
Then the worst came, he was only 6 years old when it happened. Suki, who was 15 years old, nearly 16, began to show signs of old age. She had trouble walking, hair falling out, later had trouble even standing so I would go to her to feed her and help her up. After about 7 months of this, she was unable to stand up anymore, we couldn't see her suffer like this. We took her around the side of our house, where Spike followed us, till we got to the gate and stopped him. We took Suki to the vet for any possible last efforts, but nothing, so we had to put her to sleep.
Times where we had to even take her for a bath, Spike would cry, waiting for her to return, but this was like no other. He slept by the gate all night, waiting for her. I brought him in, but he would just want to stay outside and sleep under the shaded tree in the same spot Suki always relaxed in. He began to stop eating, stop running with me, stopped wagging his tail... :'( I took him to the vet for depression issues, but nothing helped. Then, 1 day, he started eating again. I was so happy. After a week of his improvement, I bought him a whole slab of beef, get all his strength back. Then it happened...
I awoke at 4 AM cause of a fear, something scared me. Spike, like usual at night, was asleep at the foot of my bed, but something seemed very wrong. I turned on the lights, stroked his face, whispered to him, but he wasn't responding... I checked everything for a sign of life. Spike passed away. I ran outside, searched the backyard, ran around to the gate and found it. In a hole being covered was all the food I thought he was eating. I cried for hours holding Spike. Track members and my best friends came at 7 AM to help me take him.
What hit me even harder was my school. They held a funeral for spike, over 60 track students, my best friends and everyone closest to me. He had so many who cared for him, but he couldn't live without a single one of his friends, Suki...
Sorry if it was bad writing, I was crying on last 2 paragraphs. It's been 2 years, but I still miss my best friend.