For Whiskers

Much loved. Truly missed.
Cross the Rainbow Bridge and go with God.
Your spirit be with the ones you loved for all time.

It's So Hard to Say Goodbye

For many people, making decisions about how to proceed with a terminally sick animal is just as gut wrenching as it would be if they were human. Unfortunately, the options are far more limited, though the pain is just as great. 

As humans, we oftentimes project our own thoughts, feelings and desires onto our furry, fuzzy and feathered family members. And when the end comes, we oftentimes want to do for them the things that we would do for our human family members. We lavish affection, treats and care. We spend time with them that we would normally spend on our work, home, etc. And when their time nears, we hope and pray it will be peaceful and quiet, just as we would for ourselves. But if not, we have to remember that we are entrusted to care for them - no matter how hard it may seem. 

But at the end of the day, animals, like humans, don't really want treats. They just want to be close to the people in their lives that they love. I've had to make the hard decision twice now, and I may have to again far sooner than I would care too. I can tell you this - it doesn't get any easier. But I know that God speaks as much through my babies as he does through people. 

They teach me about unconditional love, loyalty and what is really important; the "what" versus the "how" of my life. So I'll spend more time with the family and friends that love and care for me, and who allow me to love and care for them. For they are gone far to soon from our lives - and goodbye is so very hard to say...

If the phone doesn't ring...

"Lots of new friends,
but the same old answers.
Open your eyes,
you might see.
If our lives were that simple,
we'd live in the past.
If the phone doesn't ring,

it's me."

That Jimmy Buffet song was playing on my way home tonight. I couldn't help but think back over the last year, or three, or 30. It's funny how a song about one thing can trigger a memory of something different - yet the same, somehow.

Funny how the past, recent or otherwise, somehow pops up just when we least expect it to. Or worse, just when we think we got it all figured out...

"If it takes all the future,
we'll live through the past.
If the phone doesn't ring,
it's me. It's me. It's me."