Donald McCaig sends me this 1993 piece by the late Vicki Hearne who observes that the pop-psychology experts say the loss of a dog is a loss that does not last.
.
Right.
Vicki Hearne did not believe it, and neither does Donald, and neither did Dick Koehler.
All I know is that reading this wonderful piece seems to cause me asthma; my throat swells, and my eyes start to blink, and I get a patch of vertigo. It is not even Mountain. It is Gideon. I can accept death in old age, but not a minute before. Gideon is a wound that does not seem to heal,
But I'm sure it will go away in 3 months. The experts say so, right?
I should live so long as to be an expert on dogs.
We all should.
3 comments:
Three months? I grant you, I am a rather sensitive individual, but infrequently brought to tears. Glimpsing a picture, or getting a random flashback, of a beloved companion, whether it be thirty years, or three weeks later, chokes me with the bittersweet rembrance of great love and loss.
I shed a tear upon hearing of Gideon's end. Not so with Mountain Girl, I was glad of her good long life. Dogs I had not even met in person. My Ruby's death after being set upon by her littermates at 2 years old still shakes me, but other dogs who lived to ripe old ages are fond memories. My Father's suicide at 47 brings more anguish than my Mother's death at 83.
There are good deaths and bad deaths, and my hope is for all of us to experience the former and avoid the latter.
I've been called callous and unfaithful, uncaring and crass. Yet, I can see in my mind's eye every dog that ever owned me. Like you, I suffer less at the leaving of an old dog. I've lost two to a heart attack and they are the worst. Once when I was a child and more recently 3 years ago. I am a believer that to extend the lack of a dog does no one a service. We will still mourn the lost dog, but a new dog will fill a hole on the couch. I rescued another pound puppy who was about to be euthanized and saved not only her, but 3 unborn pups we were unaware existed. This became the legacy of my last dog.
Debi and the TX Jack Rats.
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