It's Not Fair.
Last week, The woman that had been renting an apartment from my mother up until a month or so ago and got close to her (she is about my age and I believe her mother has passed away) in the few years she rented from her....well...she had to put her best friend, Doja down. She had her nine years, since she was a pup and the dog even went to collage with her. But after surgery and medicine it was either keeping her alive and in more pain with more surgery or letting her go. She did the humane thing and held her paw and let her go.
I wrote to her how sorry I was. We often exchanged pictures of our Dogs and I told her that old saying that goes something like: "Every time I lose a pet of mine, they take a piece of my heart and leave a piece of themselves. Now, at the middle of my life, my heart is about half animal and half human. By the end of my life, it should be completely cat and dog...this being the case, I will surely get into heaven."
She thanked me for my letter telling her how brave and humane her decision was because to MAKE Doja stay just for her benefit is selfish and so many pet owners prolong a sick pet's agony for their own selfish reasons and inability to let them go. And she told me that she was adopting another soon, not to take Doja's place but because she had the extra love to give.
Robert held off giving me bad news because he knew it would hit me hard and it did...Today we discovered our next door neighbor, the bohemian folk-singer chick's dog has Cancer and it's bad. He is really sick and doesn't have long.... He too is about 9 years old.
Nine Years. It's not fair. Why do our best friends get such short lifespans?? I am not asking for a Parrot or Horses lifespan. I am not saying give me a hearty 40 years, for surely there will be so many animals out there without a home. Yet nine short years?? I look down at Miles and think 'What if you.. my Darling boy..you who makes some days bareable... or can bring a smile to my face faster than anything or anyone...what if you get sick in 6..6 1/2 years?? Why can't we have just twenty? Just 20 years with these creatures that give their all and ask for so little?? I admit, the mere thought filled me with a panic and made me unsteady. And the dog that was meant to be mine... my companion as I was bed-bound and now going through the process or treatment and surgery to correct my back.. he has become the sun, moon, and stars to Robert too and has even made us somehow love EACH OTHER more, as we watch ourselves becoming a family and heaping attention, guidance, affection, and love on him.
Nine years? It's just not fair. I wish I could bring Doja back for Tam... I wish I could pull the Cancer out of Casey. I wish there were no pets without human parents. And I wish our best friends...our children..could live forever...
I wrote to her how sorry I was. We often exchanged pictures of our Dogs and I told her that old saying that goes something like: "Every time I lose a pet of mine, they take a piece of my heart and leave a piece of themselves. Now, at the middle of my life, my heart is about half animal and half human. By the end of my life, it should be completely cat and dog...this being the case, I will surely get into heaven."
She thanked me for my letter telling her how brave and humane her decision was because to MAKE Doja stay just for her benefit is selfish and so many pet owners prolong a sick pet's agony for their own selfish reasons and inability to let them go. And she told me that she was adopting another soon, not to take Doja's place but because she had the extra love to give.
Robert held off giving me bad news because he knew it would hit me hard and it did...Today we discovered our next door neighbor, the bohemian folk-singer chick's dog has Cancer and it's bad. He is really sick and doesn't have long.... He too is about 9 years old.
Nine Years. It's not fair. Why do our best friends get such short lifespans?? I am not asking for a Parrot or Horses lifespan. I am not saying give me a hearty 40 years, for surely there will be so many animals out there without a home. Yet nine short years?? I look down at Miles and think 'What if you.. my Darling boy..you who makes some days bareable... or can bring a smile to my face faster than anything or anyone...what if you get sick in 6..6 1/2 years?? Why can't we have just twenty? Just 20 years with these creatures that give their all and ask for so little?? I admit, the mere thought filled me with a panic and made me unsteady. And the dog that was meant to be mine... my companion as I was bed-bound and now going through the process or treatment and surgery to correct my back.. he has become the sun, moon, and stars to Robert too and has even made us somehow love EACH OTHER more, as we watch ourselves becoming a family and heaping attention, guidance, affection, and love on him.
Nine years? It's just not fair. I wish I could bring Doja back for Tam... I wish I could pull the Cancer out of Casey. I wish there were no pets without human parents. And I wish our best friends...our children..could live forever...