Thoughts on Pet Loss

I give you this one thought to keep--
I am with you still, I do not sleep...
Do not think of me as gone--
I am with you still, in each new dawn.
~~Native American Prayer



They will not go quietly, the dogs who've shared our lives.
In the subtle ways they let us know
   their spirit still survives.
Old habits still make us think
   we hear a barking at the door,
Or step back when we drop
   a tasty morsel on the floor.
Our feet still go around the place
   the food dish used to be,
And sometimes, coming home at
   night, we miss them terribly.
And although time may bring new
   friends, and a new food dish to fill,
That one place in our hearts
   belongs to them.....
And always will.



Perhaps
they are not stars,
 but rather
openings in Heaven
where the love of our
lost ones pours through
and
shines down upon us to
let us know
they are happy.

"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 live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only certain immortality,
never fully understanding the necessary plan."

--Irving Townsend, Separate Lifetimes.
"The Once Again Prince"




I ONLY WANTED YOU

They say memories are golden
Well maybe that is true
I never wanted memories.
I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,
A million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
You never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly.
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
No one else could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway,
And heartache make a lane,
I'd walk the path to heaven
And bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one
The chain will link again.



MAY I GO NOW

May I go now?
Do you think the time is right?
May I say goodbye to pain filled days and endless lonely nights?
I've lived my life and done my best,
an example tried to be.
So can I take that step beyond and set my spirit free?  I didn't want
to go at first, I fought with all my might.  But something seems to draw
me now to a warm and loving light.
I want to go, really I do.
It's difficult to stay,
but I will try the best I can so I can live just one more day.
To give you time to care for me and share your love and fears.  I know
you're sad and afraid because I see your tears.
I'll not be far, I promise that, and hope you'll always know that my spirit
will be close to where ever you may go.
Thank you so much for loving me.
You know I love you too.
That's why its hard to say goodbye
and end this life with you.
So hold me now just one more time and let me hear you say,
because you care so much for me,
You'll let me go today.
      ~author unknown



As we lay our hands upon you,
Before your final rest,
Our hearts surround to love you,
And thank you for your best.
Our home you watched and treasured,
Our lives you truly blessed.
-Anne Dougherty-

~love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation...
-Kahlil Gibran-




AND GOD SAID

I said, "God, I hurt."
And God said, "I know."

I said "God, I cry a lot."
And God said, "That is why I gave you tears."

I said, "God, I am so depressed."
And God said, "That is why I gave you Sunshine."

I said, "God, life is so hard."
And God said, "That is why I gave you loved ones."

I said, "God, my loved one died."
And God said, "So did mine."

I said, "God, it is such a loss."
And God said, "I saw mine nailed to a cross."

I said, "God, but your loved one lives."
And God said, "So does yours."

I said, "God, where are they now?"
And God said, "Mine is on My Right and yours will be in the Light."

I said, "God it hurts."
And God said, "I know."

(posted at the Oklahoma City Bombing)



"Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends the animals, especially
for animals who are suffering; for any that are hunted or lost, or
deserted or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to death.  We
entreat for them all thy mercy and pity and for those who deal with them
we ask a heart of compassion and gentle hands and kindly words.  Make us,
ourselves, to be true friends to animals and so to share the blessings of
the merciful."

As a small child, I could not understand why I should pray for human
beings only.  When my mother had kissed me goodnight, I used to add a
silent prayer that I had composed for all living creatures...
         ~Albert Schweitzer




TRIBUTE TO A BEST FRIEND

Sunlight streams through window pane onto a spot on the floor....
then I remember its where you used to lie, but now you are no more.

Our feet walk down a hall or carpet, and muted echoes sound.....
then I remember its where your paws would joyously abound.

A voice is heard along the road, and up beyond the hill,
then I remember it can't be yours....your golden voice is still.

But I'll take that vacant spot of floor and empty muted hall
and lay them with the absent voice and unused dish along the wall.

I'll wrap these treasured memorials in a blanket of my love
and keep them for my best friend until we meet above.

    ~author unknown