Recently, my brother had to put his dog down. This may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people. But they've had the dog for over 14 years. His kids grew up with Aries being the center of their home, the heart of their family. As they moved around, as their world hit several snags, as they grew up and left home, they still looked to Aries to show them what love was. One of my nephews shared custody with his dad and took Aries home every other week. He was the very center of gravity for all of them.
Then came the day a tumor started to grow on his nose. When they took him to a vet, they were told that surgery was not a very viable option, especially for an elderly dog. They watched his medical problems get worse and worse with some concern. But 14 is fairly old for a large dog. Without a huge financial expenditure, there was not much anyone could do. Even then, things looked iffy.
They held onto him for as long as they could because they knew how much his loss would hurt. When they took him in, he wagged his tail until the end, trusting and loving them into the beyond. Some of them have seen his spirit as he's continued to watch over them.
But that doesn't stop the pain. For most of them, it feels like a child or their best friend has died. I held my adult nephew (who never cries) as he sobbed out his pain onto my shoulder. A piece of their soul, the unifying force in their divided family, is nowhere they can see him. I've had pets die. I've had people in fur die (animals that have become more than just a pet, more like a companion or a best friend). But I've never been rocked to my soul quite as much as I saw in my brother's family.
When I saw their pain, I thought of my own. We sat and cried together. I know you can't compare one kind of loss (that of a child) to another (a furbaby). But there's a kinship, a connection, that can be made between those who have lost, regardless of what the loss is. I don't think I would have understood their loss like I do without my own. I can be grateful for the empathy I've learned that allows me to be there for them and cry with them.
