The Morning After

I woke up today wishing yesterday was just a dream. Hoping it hadn't happened, but sadly, it was real. I can't quite wrap my mind around a universe in which one day a soul can exist in this world and 24 hours later can be gone forever. It just makes no sense. None of this does. It doesn't make sense how a presence once felt only in any one given place in a house can be missed in every possible place simultaneously once it's gone. How does that happen? How do we as people have the power and ability to decide when an animal is ready to go? How does a perfectly healthy albeit elderly dog go from running around and jumping for treats to multiple organ failure in a matter of days, hours? How does a world exist the next day exactly the same way as it was? I now understand the need for the movie "All Dogs Go to Heaven" and believe that it certainly must be true. Where else could such a small extinguished spirit go?

I have a new appreciation for all those pet lovers out there who go so far as to put their pets on greeting cards and Santa's lap. I've been wondering about them a lot this year for some reason, but now I think I understand. When a person passes away, it's easy for other people to relate. Most people have lost someone, and it's easy to see all that a person brought into this world and everyone they have touched. With pets, it's different. The "only" contribution most pets can hope to make is to love their people unconditionally. Others may occasionally be entertained by them, but it is only their people who truly feel their absence when they're gone. And those of us that do, feel that absence everywhere. I don't really expect anyone else to understand, but it does make me feel that much more alone.