Grieving Our Pets Part 1 of 2

PART ONE: Grieving Our Pets

For someone who did not want a dog some five or six years ago, I sure did go off the deep end. Only a year after adopting our first boy named Duke we HAD to adopt a second. I mean come on; our little guy Duke was lonely! Or was he? I do not know, but that will be the excuse I use today. So of course, my wife and I opened our home and our hearts to a second special guy named Snort.

Snort was a rescue. As I have always felt, he was a loveable guy that had been dealt a bad hand from the beginning of his life. We were blessed and honored to have the opportunity to adopt him, and give him something he had never had, a stable, safe loving home. When we adopted Duke my heart was changed. When we adopted Snort, my heart was remolded into something I had never seen coming.

The love of an animal can be one of the purest and most beautiful things we ever witness on this earth, if one is only willing to open their heart to it. Sadly, many people will never understand it. Nevertheless, to those that are reading this I am sure you do understand.

Even though Snort was dealt a bad hand in his life as I had mentioned, his heart still longed for one thing, to be loved unconditionally. I think many of us as people long for that one thing as well. I feel this is why for many of us when we lose a beloved part of our family we have such a hard time. Our pets are the ones that love us unconditionally and that never judge us. How is it ever easy to let go of someone in your life who does that? It is not.

A short time ago, I had to say goodbye to my beautiful blessing that I called Snort. It seems his life had yet another tragic turn that not even, his stable safe loving home could protect him from, lung cancer. By the time the results were known it was unfortunately to late for my best friend. Through this experience, I have learned a great deal about grief and want to pass a few things onto you.

The biggest is that we all grieve differently and that is ok…just do not let your emotions stay pinned up too long. Find a family member or friend who understands what you are going through. Keyword is “Understands”, because trust me, not everyone will understand, and that is ok. Growing up in a family where pets were simply just that and virtually always outside, there was never that connection.

The love you have for your pet is something that simply cannot be explained to some family members. Some will make an attempt to relate as you grieve while others may even write you off as crazy, but hey, I’ve always been a little crazy so that never hurt my feelings to be placed in that category. I advise you to be ready for an array of responses.

Come back for Part two of this story next week