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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/Yevgen_sir on 2025-11-12 18:19:23+00:00.
This is the one mistake I will never forgive myself for. It happened six months ago, but I wake up thinking about it every single day.
My dog, Lancelot, was a Golden Retriever, my absolute best friend for 14 years. In his last year, he grew weaker, but his eyes still lit up whenever I grabbed his leash.
On Sunday evening, we were supposed to do his "regular" loop around the park. But the weather was miserable—a cold, biting wind and a steady drizzle. I looked at Lancelot, who was already struggling on his feet, and decided I would be "doing him a favour."
I thought, "Why make him suffer in that damp air? Tomorrow it will be sunny, and we’ll go for a long, proper walk." I cancelled his outing, took him for a quick "business" trip in the yard, and hugged him tight. I was convinced I was being smart. I was a fool who believed in "tomorrow."
But tomorrow never came.
On Monday morning, his condition drastically worsened, and he couldn't even stand up. We rushed to the vet, and I already knew the verdict. At the clinic, holding him as he passed, I couldn't think of anything but that miserable evening.
My screw-up isn't that he died; that was his illness. My TIFU is that I robbed him of the final chance to feel the grass under his paws and one last opportunity to smell the world. I was too "logical" and too cowardly to take him on that farewell walk.
Now I come home to an empty apartment. I can still smell him on the old couch. And I will never stop regretting not putting on that damn raincoat and giving him those final fifteen minutes.
TL;DR: My 14-year-old dog, Lancelot, had less than a day left to live, and I cancelled his last walk because of cold weather, thinking "tomorrow" would be better. Tomorrow never came. I can't forgive myself for missing that final chance to say a proper goodbye.