I am sorry about Kayla, too and everyone's beloved pet who has passed. My Romeo, is 8 yrs old have had him for two years now, and just the thought of not seeing his mischiveous eyes every mornning makes me loose it and I know the day will come and I am just so happy to know there will be a place where I can say how I feel about him and won't be judged for loving him the way I do.
The following is one of my favorite poems:
A Living Love
If you ever love an animal, there are three days
in your life you
will always remember . . .
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when
you bring home
your young new friend. You may have spent weeks
deciding on a
breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of
many vets, or done
long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps
in a fleeting
moment, you may have just chosen that silly
looking
mutt in a shelter -- simply because something in
its eyes reached
your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet
home, and watch it
explore, and claim its special place in your hall
or front room --
and when you feel it brush gainst you for the
first time -- it
instills a feeling of pure love you will carry
with you through the
many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten
years later. It will
be a day like any other. Routine and
unexceptional. But, for a
surprising instant, you will look at your
longtime friend and see
age where you once saw youth. You will see slow
deliberate steps
where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep
when you once saw
activity. So you will begin to adjust your
friend's diet -- and you
may add a pill or two to her food. And you may
feel a growing fear
deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming
emptiness.
And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and
off, until the third
day finally arrives...... And on this day -- if
your friend and
whatever higher being you believe inhave not
decided for you, then
you will be faced with making a decision of your
own -- on behalf
of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of
your own
deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend
eventually leaves you -
- you will feel as alone as a single star in the
dark night. If
you are wise, you will let the tears flow as
freely and as often as
they must. And if you are typical, you will find
that not many in
your circle of family or friends will be able to
understand your
grief, or comfort you. But if you are true to the
love of the pet
you cherished through the many joy-filled years,
you may find that a
soul -- a bit smaller in size than your own --
seems to walk with
you, at times, during the lonely days to come.
And at moments when
you least expect anything out of the ordinary to
happen, you may
feel something brush against your leg --very,
very lightly. And
looking down at the place where your dear,
perhaps dearest, friend
used to lie -- you will remember those three
significant days. The
memory will most likely to be painful, and leave
an ache in your
heart. As time passes the ache will come and go
as if it has a
life of its own. You will both reject it and
embrace it, and it may
confuse you. If you reject it,it will depress
you. If you embrace
it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still
be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day
when ..............
along with the memory of your pet -- and piercing
through the
heaviness in your heart -- there will come a
realization that
belongs only to you. It will be as unique and
strong as our
relationship with each animal we have loved, and
lost. This
realization takes the form of a Living Love --
like the heavenly
scent of a rose that remains after the petals
have wilted, this
Love will remain and grow -- and be there for us
to remember. It is
a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets
leave us when they
go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long
as we live. It is
a Love which is ours alone. And until we
ourselves leave, perhaps
to join our Beloved Pets -- it is a Love we will
always possess.
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No matter how little money and how few possessions you own, having a
dog makes you rich...........Louis Sabin
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