i understand your situation. it was your pet's time to go and you've said it yourself, it goes to show that every living creature in this world will, at some point, wither and pass away (i'd rather use the phrase than the 'd' word). and it goes to show that not only humans have the 'essence' or soul. i've been deceived all my childhood by people who say that animals, other than humans, do not have souls. but anyway, my point is that it will hurt, and it will take time. mourn, cry if you have to, it will help you more in moving on.

i have a pet dog once, she's not of any special breed... or should i say that she's more of a hybrid dog. ever since she was born, i took care of her. she grew up and had babies which i had no problem raising as well (unfortunately, we had to give them out, since we can't afford to own too many pets at home). when she was about 10 years old or so, she had her last 2 babies, whom we never gave out. i was glad since i could raise two more dogs, dogs that were of the lineage of my great pet. everything was fine until a tragedy struck. all of the sudden my pet got sick. i just thought she wasn't in the mood or was just tired until i realized she couldn't even stand up and eat. moments later, she died. when we were burying her, we noticed that one of her puppies looked tired. i was thinking it was sad because his mother was already dead (or something like that). then we found out a bit later that the puppy was also sick and died the same day. two days later, the last puppy died as well. it was like an epidemic that only attacked the family of my pet. and the experience was so traumatic, since all of them died in just one week.

i think it proves the point that once we get attached to someone (or something like a pet, for that matter), it's hard to let go. and when these things come, the inevitable, we have no choice but to accept it. we just keep in mind that some time in the future, we hope that we would be reunited with them again.

with regards to your father not crying, sometimes (like one person stated) people can build up the tolerance when it comes to these things. and it doesn't make them heartless for not even shedding a tear or something. sometimes a person has to stay strong, whatever and how devastating a situation may be. and this will help those in need of a strong support, for these people need to feel that somehow they can depend on these people to have a shoulder to cry on to. and i may sound sexist for saying this, but society has created this idealogy that men are not supposed to show any sign of weakness. but of course, that was to back up my statement. i'm not saying that when you cry, you're not strong. people can have their own ways of expressing their feelings and emotions. and it's not forbidden for someone to let his/her own emotions. crying is one form of letting go of that excess baggage that has built up through time. as they say in matters of who is the better sex, women tend to live longer and crying/showing emotions is one of the factors. men tend to hide their emotions which can build up and can cause problems in the future.

anyway, i hope you get my point. it's not that your dad is emotionless or something. look at him as if he's trying to be a strong person so you could have a "shoulder to cry on".