A pet greets us at the door when we come home. They love us just because we love them. I have a couple of friends that have lost their little dog lately. One lost the little dog a few months ago. He had an old dog and sometimes agonized about putting her to sleep or not.
He finally had no choice but to take her to the vet and put her to sleep. He was full of grief now but has gotten a new puppy. It is a joy to see the little puppy love this man so much and the love he gives the puppy. This man is all alone in the world and frail of health. I notice, though, that he is happier now and has a reason to get up in the morning. He is needed by his pet.
I worry about the ones who lose a pet and find it to hard to love again. They deprive themselves of the love a pet can give. I rather have a loving and open hard, then to become bitter, because my cat or dog died. And I became afraid to love again. That kind of pain probably comes from being disappointed in life.
I was lucky because I grew up on a farm. There I learned about life and death and how it is all part of the process of living on the planet. Now I know from experiences in life that the body dies but the soul does not. When we think of someone or an animal that has pasted on we can feel the love from that animal. I had a protective dog named Harry and after he died his soul was around me and I could feel him. When I got my dog Lucky , I still felt Harry, one day I knew Harry's soul left me because he knew I was being taken care of. His job was finished and he went totally wherever dogs go over there.
Sometimes we feel guilt because we had the pet put to sleep and sometimes we feel guilt because we did not put the pet to sleep. I think we just feel guilt because it is all part of the process. But as we work through the grief we should get another pet so that we keep our heart open to love.
This is especially true when we are alone and older. It is so easy after 50, if we are alone, to close up our love. A pet will put love in our heart and the spring in our step.
Dear God,
Thank you for all the love I have received from my pets,
Thank you for Lucky and me finding each other.
Amen
I can remember sitting with an old chap. He was 93 then (1997) and had
lost his wife, was almost totally deaf and blind. I felt sad because I
couldn't sit there and shout so instead acted as a presence, it was all I
could do. Anyhow, he used to play over and over in his mind the day he had
to take the life of one of his dogs when he was a young man. The dog was
terribly ill and he lived on a farm miles from anywhere. He had to use a
shotgun. He knew it was the right thing to do and he couldn't allow the
animal to suffer. The animal died instantly but he said he could still
remember the way the animal looked up into his eyes. That must have been
terrible for him.