Gone, but not forgotten
Dec. 30th, 2017 04:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blatherskiteThose of us who have been blessed with little furry people in our lives know all too well that some day, we’ll lose them. That doesn’t stop us from loving them; indeed, we may love them all the more intensely, knowing how brief our friendship will be. The fact that they’re not “people” in the traditional sense doesn’t make us love them any less; they’re still little furry souls. That’s why they become such a powerful, enduring part of our lives.
You may believe in reincarnation, as in the Buddhist bardo where souls go to wait for their next incarnation; an afterlife, such as the Christian heaven; or “the big sleep”. Whataver your belief about the afterlife, it’s comforting to believe that our furry friends will be waiting there for us when our time comes. After all, how could it be heaven if our beloved friends aren’t there to share it with us? And if you only believe in “the big sleep”, well... perhaps you’ll find it comforting that they’ll be sleeping there beside you in death, as they did in life.
We are all mortals, and our lives inevitably end. Knowing this should remind us to sweeten and cherish the days that we do have: to live well even while we’re dying. But it helps to know that we live on as long as we’re remembered. And once the sting of loss has begun to fade from, those memories keep our loved ones alive in our hearts.
Dedicated to Abby, Ben Venue, Brittany, Katrine, Mombo, Marita, Nicky, Paws, Sally, Smokey Joe, Thomasina, Winnie, and Zena... gone, but not forgotten.
You may believe in reincarnation, as in the Buddhist bardo where souls go to wait for their next incarnation; an afterlife, such as the Christian heaven; or “the big sleep”. Whataver your belief about the afterlife, it’s comforting to believe that our furry friends will be waiting there for us when our time comes. After all, how could it be heaven if our beloved friends aren’t there to share it with us? And if you only believe in “the big sleep”, well... perhaps you’ll find it comforting that they’ll be sleeping there beside you in death, as they did in life.
We are all mortals, and our lives inevitably end. Knowing this should remind us to sweeten and cherish the days that we do have: to live well even while we’re dying. But it helps to know that we live on as long as we’re remembered. And once the sting of loss has begun to fade from, those memories keep our loved ones alive in our hearts.
Dedicated to Abby, Ben Venue, Brittany, Katrine, Mombo, Marita, Nicky, Paws, Sally, Smokey Joe, Thomasina, Winnie, and Zena... gone, but not forgotten.