The Loss of a Pet - It's Always Difficult

I'm running late today, so it'll be a short post. But I also had a rather sleepless night, so I'm wondering if it will be possible to sleep-swim. Hmmmm, a thought, for sure! I might find out. I finally had a chance to catch up on posts and emails from friends, though, in the wee hours of the night/early morning. One friend of many, many years posted that she had to have her beloved dog put down over the weekend. She arranged to have them come to her to keep the tension down and allow her pupper to be surrounded by the things familiar in her life. I wept when I read this, and I have tears falling again now. 

This is one of the last photos of Pippin that my friend 
shared with us. Here's her Halloween costume from this 
year. Such a wonderful outfit indeed. Pippin was never 
very fond of winter, however, so I'm sure she's glad to 
not have to deal with another one. 

I've known this particular friend as an online friend for almost two decades now. A very long time. When I first came to know her, she lived in the West Coast, in San Diego. At that time she was one of two friends I had who lived in that area - both have now moved across the country. My friend moved to New Jersey and the other friend of mine moved to Florida. An adventure for everyone, I'm quite sure. 

It is never easy to uproot and move a long distance away. 
I moved across country from New Mexico to Minnesota, 
these two friends both started out in San Diego, one 
moved to New Jersey, the other to Florida. That's a LONG 
way to go. 

There's really nothing like a pet, however, to help you with such a move. Uprooting a life to start a new job or a new life randomly, can be heartwrenching. My New Jersey friend moved to bring herself and her Mom closer to other relations. She now has a loving family close by and her new life seems to have worked out quite well for her. My other friend moved because of health reasons, which haven't been resolved yet, but I have hope that they will be soon. 

I know that my own pets will be waiting for me, and I trust 
that Pippin will be waiting patiently for my friend to join 
her many years from now. The love of a pet is a true 
one, and not even death can end it. 

But, above all else, my heart is aching for my New Jersey friend right now. It's always a hard, hard thing to lose a pet, and her dog was the last bit tying her to the old San Diego life she had led. All of her bridges have now been burned behind her, and she's walking on her own now. I'm writing this to remind her that because of our modern world, we're actually never truly alone any more. She's been my friend for many, many years, and we'll continue to be friends for as long as she will allow me to be one for her. I know all of you have friends like that, so take the opportunity today to reach out to some of them. Tell them how important they are in your lives, because I can tell all of you, my readers, that you're massively important in MY life and I'm grateful every day that you're here for me. So, I'm off to the pool. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.