Marty's dog, Gudrun, drew her last breath, happy with Marty. She was twelve and a half years old, brilliant and sweet, but having serious physical problems and bleeding from her right nostril for several days. She stayed in the VCA (veterinary hospital overnight), and Marty and Ashlee were there to say goodbye this morning. I'm glad Ashlee thought to take photos, and that she was there to comfort Marty.
The hospital had little bereavement counseling rooms, so it wasn't done in a cold exam room with any stainless steel or bright lights. I chose not to be there, mostly because it was hard for me to see Marty in such pain. Marty is a wonderful son, and Gudrun was a great dog, and sometimes I get frustrated from having no magical powers to heal or preserve. It's bringing to mind my childhood memories of thinking parents should be able to just FIX things, and make them good and right. Parents can't fix everything.
7 comments:
Life is full of ups and downs. We still miss pets we have lost over the years. Hugs to you all!
I have been through this several times now. It has always been a relief, full of so much sadness. (((hugs))) to everyone.
Losing a pet that age is never easy. I hope your son is doing ok. I remember losing my first dog...it was so sad. I didn't even get to say goodbye. I'm so happy to see that you are thinking about your son and his feelings. Having a mom like that is so important to kids!
-Kama
Hugs to all.
Pets are family and losing them is so hard...even if we know they have had a long wonderful life.
~marcia
Both of those pictures are so sweet. I'm sorry for your family's loss; it's hard letting go of a pet.
We had Andrew's first dog put down several years ago. We'd adopted her as an old dog and only had her a couple years, but she was the perfect first dog for him -- very sweet, gentle, and calm. The morning we knew it was "that time", he asked me to take a picture of them together and I'm so glad he thought of that -- it makes him smile to see it when we go through our photo albums.
I am way behind on reading your blog, reading in general. I am so sorry about Gudrun, it is like losing a family member. Please tell Marty that Richard and I are thinking of him.
Hi Sandra,
I know this is 8 yrs later, but I just found it randomly after clicking through on your pets page. Our bottle fed rescued kitty just died in front of us two days ago. Sudden, dramatic, out of the blue. We've been grieving. I'll keep it at that. Sorry to share that sadness, but I wanted to say this helped me somehow. I've been feeling like I should've been able to do more, feeling terrible for my kids (who are 20-17-15, so pretty grown but still my precious babies).
We had 5 great years with him, and I remember reading about being kinder to your cats when we first found them. One source of comfort has been that we were so loving and kind to these kitties, because of unschooling. I have no regrets in terms of giving him so much love, attention, treats, walks....That's been a comfort to the girls, too, knowing we were so gentle and sweet even when they were "naughty".
Thank you for sharing this, and all the helpful sharing you've been doing for so long.
Sukayna/ Tracy
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