I’m so sorry about Pepper. Just last month we had to say goodbye to our 14 yo chocolate lab. The dog that saw my step kids through from 1 and 3 to 14 and 16. Eternally patient and steady companion to the whole pack. You’d think with a whole Siberian sleddog team at home it’d be easier. I *expected it to be so and found myself so choked with tears at the vets I couldn’t speak. The vet was so kind, giving me lots of time to process. I too was so thankful for the peaceful passing, the end of his pain and mobility issues. Maybe they are playing somewhere together in a large grassy field over the rainbow bridge.
Oh, Effie. I hear you. That all makes so much sense. We think we’re prepared, or that other lovebugs’ presence will cushion the blow, but then WHAM. Clobbered by grief. But the image of them meeting each other! I love to think of our loyal, dear companions being friends, romping around pain-free on the other side. Big, big hugs to you my dear friend.
"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would have it no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." Irving Townsend
*Echoing all sentiments of heartfelt sympathy ❤️🩹🙏🏻
Thank you for this beautiful piece (passed on to me by Ellen Kushner). I lost my beloved, soul-mate of a dog last year, and it's both comforting and shattering to read about a similar experience. These words struck me particularly:
"...It sure doesn’t soothe the longing for the body - the embodied being. Their voice, their quirks, their snores, their snuggles, their hair, their smile, their smell. Those things are gone forever. And that is gutting. Because there’s just no getting it back."
Almost a year later, I still struggle with this aspect of grief. Author and therapist Megan Devine writes that grief isn't something you get over, it's something you learn to carry.
I’m so sorry about Pepper. Just last month we had to say goodbye to our 14 yo chocolate lab. The dog that saw my step kids through from 1 and 3 to 14 and 16. Eternally patient and steady companion to the whole pack. You’d think with a whole Siberian sleddog team at home it’d be easier. I *expected it to be so and found myself so choked with tears at the vets I couldn’t speak. The vet was so kind, giving me lots of time to process. I too was so thankful for the peaceful passing, the end of his pain and mobility issues. Maybe they are playing somewhere together in a large grassy field over the rainbow bridge.
Oh, Effie. I hear you. That all makes so much sense. We think we’re prepared, or that other lovebugs’ presence will cushion the blow, but then WHAM. Clobbered by grief. But the image of them meeting each other! I love to think of our loyal, dear companions being friends, romping around pain-free on the other side. Big, big hugs to you my dear friend.
"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would have it no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." Irving Townsend
*Echoing all sentiments of heartfelt sympathy ❤️🩹🙏🏻
Thank you for this beautiful piece (passed on to me by Ellen Kushner). I lost my beloved, soul-mate of a dog last year, and it's both comforting and shattering to read about a similar experience. These words struck me particularly:
"...It sure doesn’t soothe the longing for the body - the embodied being. Their voice, their quirks, their snores, their snuggles, their hair, their smile, their smell. Those things are gone forever. And that is gutting. Because there’s just no getting it back."
Almost a year later, I still struggle with this aspect of grief. Author and therapist Megan Devine writes that grief isn't something you get over, it's something you learn to carry.
Blessings on Pepper, and your life together.
"Tattered Moths!" <3
JJ, this was so beautifully written. An amazing story. Thank you.