The day after Christmas last year one of my dogs left this life and ventured into the next. He was a beautiful dog with a sweet and loving personality but over the year he had several medical issues that the fine doctors at TLC in Leesburg couldn’t diagnose, despite trying their best.

As I’m sure all of you pet owners are aware, we humans tend to outlive these fine, furry family members. And that, my friends, is our curse that we must endure. If we’re lucky, we get to see our animals grow from being a baby into adulthood. We get to experience the howling in their crates when they first come home or the clawing and scratching of your favorite furniture. We see them mature, act silly or serious and, for all intents and purposes, become an integral part of our existence.

If we’re lucky, we get to be with them when they pass.

As hard as it is to see your loved one go we gladly carry this curse with us for as long as possible, knowing that it will eventually end in heartbreak and pain. Why? Because even though we know the inevitability of the situation we are also sure that this curse is also a blessing.

I took it very, very hard when my baby passed away.  I think of him daily; missing his big, lumbering body that didn’t have a shred of grace nor coordination. But he was mine and he always will be.

When I was in North Carolina I remember driving around with my dogs in my truck and we were listening to NPR and Garrison Keillor’s ‘Prairie Home Companion’. On this particular show was Billy Collins reading his work “The Revanent“. Although it is a humorous piece about a dog’s ‘true’ feelings after passing, it helps bring some levity to an otherwise dire time.

Plus, we all know that it isn’t true