Be Happy, Even Though I am Gone

Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you... I loved you so... twas heaven here with you.

—Isla Paschal Richardson

There's an online site that I love written by a British lady called Pea Horsley.  She's an "animal communicator" and sends me quarterly newsletters about her workshops, with animals, all over England.  I'd love to go to one.  Her website is: http://www.animalthoughts.com/  Well worth a look!

Here's what she wrote about death and dying:

Saying goodbye to animals who we've shared our time with, animals who are part of our family, part of our heart; is one of the hardest things we have to do. It can feel like a part of ourselves is being ripped out. Many people find losing an animal who they love much harder than losing a member of their own family. Why is this? Because animals give unconditional love. They don't care about the state of our hair or the state of our bank balance. They only care that we spend loving time with them. Fun time. Gentle time. Quiet time. Animals are the keys to the soul; they are capable of removing layers of pain and surrounding us in blankets of comfort. Animals keep us going. They keep our hearts open.


Pea goes on to say that our pets will "let us know" when it is time to go and how they wish to go---at home or assisted (euthanized.)  I tried to let Suzy go at home.  Prayed she would, in fact.  But, she just hung in there as did I.  We both didn't want to say goodbye!  I waited as long as I could before she stopped eating and drinking.  There was nothing else I could do.

When I took her to the vet's he said to me, "your hands are tied" meaning, there was nothing else I could do for Suzy.  My heart fell.  I crouched down on the floor and held and kissed Suzy rapturously.  I knew that would be our final goodbye.  She knew, too. 

Pea says our pets will communicate with us when it's time to go.  Suzy did, and I knew, then and there, that it was time.  She stared at me as I backed out of the room.  I couldn't bear to stay when the moment of passing happened.  I felt she understood and gave me silent permission to leave.  But her eyes locked with mine as I slowly stepped back and out of the exam door.  A moment I shall, sadly, never forget.