Dog Hospice for a Day
- FJohnSharp
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Dog Hospice for a Day
Dog Hospice for a Day (For Comet)
If he needs to be carried to the sunny spot in the dining room I am here, waiting in this quiet house for later. If he needs a bowl of water set before his furry nose, or a fresh towel beneath him for when his bladder control is lost, I am here, watching his breathing and hoping to see him go still. If he needs anything else I cannot think of what it is, except the one thing we will give him later tonight, when the family has gathered.
If he needs to be told he will be missed, I will do so, but he does not. Those words would be for me, as he knows already. He knows everything, including that it's time. If he could, he would drag himself into the woods and disappear, leaving us to imagine his bones being picked over by birds and bugs and rats. I am thankful the fence contained him one last time.
If he needs to be told he is loved, I must let my hands do the work, as his hearing is long gone and my touch is all that makes his tail wag today. I will tell him again and again throughout the day, until he can feel me no more, then I will tell him one long, last time before the warmth starts to subside and we have to leave him to the technicians who will see to him after.
And if he feels the need to apologize for causing all this trouble, as the look in his eyes says he does, I will simply touch him again on his face and on the beautifully soft white part under his neck, and ask him, "What trouble?" and I will lie with him until it's time to go.
If he needs to be carried to the sunny spot in the dining room I am here, waiting in this quiet house for later. If he needs a bowl of water set before his furry nose, or a fresh towel beneath him for when his bladder control is lost, I am here, watching his breathing and hoping to see him go still. If he needs anything else I cannot think of what it is, except the one thing we will give him later tonight, when the family has gathered.
If he needs to be told he will be missed, I will do so, but he does not. Those words would be for me, as he knows already. He knows everything, including that it's time. If he could, he would drag himself into the woods and disappear, leaving us to imagine his bones being picked over by birds and bugs and rats. I am thankful the fence contained him one last time.
If he needs to be told he is loved, I must let my hands do the work, as his hearing is long gone and my touch is all that makes his tail wag today. I will tell him again and again throughout the day, until he can feel me no more, then I will tell him one long, last time before the warmth starts to subside and we have to leave him to the technicians who will see to him after.
And if he feels the need to apologize for causing all this trouble, as the look in his eyes says he does, I will simply touch him again on his face and on the beautifully soft white part under his neck, and ask him, "What trouble?" and I will lie with him until it's time to go.
- emmline
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Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
It is coming, some day not too far away, for me too. I will turn into oobleck.
- mutepointe
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Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
You are in my thoughts. I couldn't read your whole post.
Rose tint my world. Keep me safe from my trouble and pain.
白飞梦
白飞梦
Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
FJS,
That pretty well sums up what we went through with our beloved pooch about a year-and-a-half ago. It's never easy, but it does help when all involved know it's time.
Sending good thoughts to Comet and his people.
John
That pretty well sums up what we went through with our beloved pooch about a year-and-a-half ago. It's never easy, but it does help when all involved know it's time.
Sending good thoughts to Comet and his people.
John
Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
- s1m0n
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Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
I'm sorry to hear it. It's just about a year since I got the bad news about a mine, and in June it'll be a year since he died, and I still go white when I think of him, or hear of anyone else's dying dog story. The other day I was reading Dog is my Co-Pilot on the bus, and had to hurriedly leave off one story and flip over to another, lest I violate several strict Canadian anti-public-emotion ordnances.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
C.S. Lewis
C.S. Lewis
- anniemcu
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Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
When the inevitable time comes to let go, it is the human heart that struggles most with it. We, as a species, like think we are more intelligent and closer to perfection than our 'animal' friends. In truth, it seems more accurate that we hide from what they readily embrace.
May his passing be swift and gentle. May your heart heal quickly and your mind remember him always with warmth. Bless his soul!
And BTW, John, that was beautiful.
May his passing be swift and gentle. May your heart heal quickly and your mind remember him always with warmth. Bless his soul!
And BTW, John, that was beautiful.
Last edited by anniemcu on Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
anniemcu
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"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
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"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
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http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
- cowtime
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Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
FJS- that was beautiful.
"Let low-country intruder approach a cove
And eyes as gray as icicle fangs measure stranger
For size, honesty, and intent."
John Foster West
And eyes as gray as icicle fangs measure stranger
For size, honesty, and intent."
John Foster West
Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
Cotelette d'Agneau
Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
Here I am at work, doing my best not to tear up in front of my co-workers while I think of all those friends I've lost over the years. Very poetic words, those are.
- Joseph E. Smith
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Re: Dog Hospice for a Day
My heart goes out to you.
- Innocent Bystander
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