Happy New Year to everyone! I have so much to post about – Christmas, food, family, assorted crochets and grumbles, and a book that is bugging me. I’ll get to it all at some point – before my 1 year anniversary on January 9th, I dearly hope.
But first some sad news to impart. Do you know the Rainbow Bridge?
Yes, it’s maudlin and sentimental. But, as someone who has loved and lost animals in my life it gets me every time. Because I want to believe it, I guess. I truly hope that it is REAL. I do firmly believe that if there is a heaven, our beloved pets will be there. I heard a priest say once that he believed firmly in animal souls and that if any creature deserved everlasting peace and joy, it was them.
This week my mother and Ted had to have their little guy, Bear, put to sleep. He got very sick over Christmas with pancreatitis and even with good veterinary care he just couldn’t recover. Bear was only 7 years old and should have lived twice that long. He was sweet and funny and naughty. He bullied the much bigger Taz unmercifully. He would eat anything not nailed down (except for cheap cheese – everyone has to have standards!). He was half toddler and half grumpy old man. As with all dogs, he was the best dog in the world. And he loved Momma and Ted. He was sad without them and exuberantly enraptured when they returned. With the typical small dog Napoleon complex, he protected his home from roaming dinosaurs and monsters. This little dog will leave a large void. But he’ll be waiting, I have to believe. Momma told him to look for Lad – who will take care of him until she comes for him. He’ll have a lot of furry folk to keep him company – snotty Nimue, neurotic Ginny, easygoing Pelinore. Mine will be there, too – being family: daffy Otis, dumb Lambrusco, Queen Ring Ring, ET who walks alone, and sweet, sweet Sugar. Even the odd gerbil and rabbit. And more and more, because loving and being loved by animals is a family tradition. We are blessed that way.
And so are we---always have been, and though there may be dozens of ducks, more than a half-dozen rats, two ferrets and assorted odd things-from-the-woods: a temporary owl, a littler of foxes, quite a few machinery-uncovered baby rabbits---we remember them all, for they ate from our hands and were part of our lives.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet way to remember the little beings we've loved and lost.
I hope you and all yours the brightest of New Years!
r
PS DO tell about the book.
Thank you, my dear! Hugs to all and a special one for Sweetpea!
ReplyDeleteThe book 'review' is simmering and in note form. Right now I'm working on a Christmas post - decorations and such. Next will come food - I took almost no pictures this season, so I'll have to dig them up from last year's scattered reports at eG, CooksKorner and snapfish. Or is that cheating?
Da boyz, my two corgis, are approaching senior citizenhood 10.5 and 9.5 years respectively. I love them dearly and dread the day that I may have to make the call your mother and her husband did. I hope they can pass the way I hope to pass: quietly and gently in my sleep. And coward that I am, I don't need to do anything. Like Androcles in Shaw's ANDROCLES AND THE LION, I imagine heaven would be a pretty dreary place without them.
ReplyDeleteAnon - that is exactly how I feel, too - the word 'heaven' wouldn't have any meaning without everything that I've loved in this life - that includes animals, people, books and, yes, FOOD!
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