The Journey

 The Journey

When you bring a pet into your life, you begin a journey - a journey that will bring you more love and devotion than you have ever known, yet also test your strength and courage.

If you allow, the journey will teach you many things, about life, about yourself, and most of all, about love. You will come away changed forever, for one soul cannot touch another without leaving its mark.

Along the way, you will learn much about savoring life's simple pleasures - jumping in leaves, snoozing in the sun, the joys of puddles, and even the satisfaction of a good scratch behind the ears.

Ginger <3

If you spend much time outside, you will be taught how to truly experience every element, for no rock, leaf, or log will go unexamined, no rustling bush will be overlooked, and even the very air will be inhaled, pondered, and noted as being full of valuable information. Your pace may be slower - except when heading home to the food dish - but you will become a better naturalist, having been taught by an expert in the field.

Too many times we hike on automatic pilot, our goal being to complete the trail rather than enjoy the journey. We miss the details - the colorful mushrooms on the rotting log, the honeycomb in the old maple snag, the hawk feather caught on a twig. Once we walk as a dog does, we discover a whole new world. We stop; we browse the landscape, we kick over leaves, peek in tree holes, look up, down, all around. And we learn what any dog knows: that nature has created a marvelously complex world that is full of surprises, that each cycle of the seasons bring ever changing wonders, each day an essence all its own.

Tux, Sim, & Munchkin <3

Even from indoors you will find yourself more attuned to the world around you. You will find yourself watching summer insects collecting on a screen, (How bizarre they are! How many kinds there are!), or noting the flick and flash of fireflies through the dark. You will stop to observe the swirling dance of windblown leaves, or sniff the air after a rain. It does not matter that there is no objective in this; the point is in the doing, in not letting life's most important details slip by.

You will find yourself doing silly things that your pet-less friends might not understand: spending thirty minutes in the grocery aisle looking for the cat food brand your feline must have, buying dog birthday treats, or driving around the block an extra time because your pet enjoys the ride. You will roll in the snow, wrestle with chewie toys, bounce little rubber balls till your eyes cross, and even run around the house trailing your bathrobe tie - with a cat in hot pursuit, all in the name of love.

Ginger <3

Your house will become muddier and hairier. You will wear less dark clothing and buy more lint rollers. You may find dog biscuits in your pocket or purse, and feel the need to explain that an old plastic shopping bag adorns your living room rug because your cat loves the crinkly sound.

You will learn the true measure of love - the steadfast, undying kind that says, "It doesn't matter where we are or what we do, or how life treats us as long as we are together." Respect this always. It is the most precious gift any living soul can give another. You will not find it often among the human race.

Sim <3

And you will learn humility. The look in my dog's eyes often made me feel ashamed. Such joy and love at my presence. She saw not some flawed human who could be cross and stubborn, moody or rude, but only her wonderful companion. Or maybe she saw those things and dismissed them as mere human foibles, not worth considering, and so chose to love me anyway.

If you pay attention and learn well, when the journey is done, you will be not just a better person, but the person your pet always knew you to be - the one they were proud to call beloved friend.

Tux

I must caution you that this journey is not without pain. Like all paths of true love, the pain is part of loving. For as surely as the sun sets, one day your dear animal companion will follow a trail you cannot yet go down.

And you will have to find the strength and love to let them go. A pet's time on earth is far too short - especially for those that love them. We borrow them, really, just for awhile, and during these brief years they are generous enough to give us all their love, every inch of their spirit and heart, until one day there is nothing left.

Munchkin <3

The cat that only yesterday was a kitten is all too soon old and frail and sleeping in the sun. The young pup of boundless energy wakes up stiff and lame, the muzzle now gray. Deep down we somehow always knew that this journey would end. We knew that if we gave our hearts they would be broken.

But give them we must for it is all they ask in return. When the time comes, and the road curves ahead to a place we cannot see, we give one final gift and let them run on ahead - young and whole once more. "Godspeed, good friend," we say, until our journey comes full circle and our paths cross again.


~ Written by Crystal Ward Kent ~

What Use To Be...

 What Used To Be....

 http://ryanaweaver.com/files/2013/03/stick-family.jpgn

What used to be, would be considered a family.
What used to be, is treasured by all and many.
What used to be.... is no longer.
Even though I used to whine and complain over silly little things, such as running inside a thousand times when we had a bbq to get the things forgotten- forks, drinks, or ice; I appreciated the love, the closeness, and the existence of our large community of people that made up a family. I appreciated being able to proudly say that although our family wasn't exactly normal or anywhere near close to perfect, we all knew and practiced the importance of being together.
I now realize that all of the memories I now have of this family, are only that- memories. There will be no more kid scrambles for Easter eggs, no more five o'clock wake up calls for Santa. The porch light will remain dark on the night of the 31st, and the tables that once provided the extra space for our large family will remain collecting dust in the basement. The headquarters of this community where family once gathered will continue to slowly wither away along with any and all hope of having once was becoming once is again.
What do I make of this unfortunate event?
I make that no one else will experience the kingdom that once remained outside of the safe protection of our little blue house on the hill. Killer hill will no longer have any more victims, mud will remain unsettled, snow will remain untouched. No more mud pies will be made, no more snowballs will be thrown. No dirt will adventure deep into innocent skulls, no more seeds will be sown. Such simple little things, with meaning beyond control.
So I suggest, before its too late, to appreciate and mend any family that is left, because before long, all of this will be completely gone.

Circle Of Life

Circle Of Life

      Everything has changed. They say it always has and always will- here today, gone tomorrow. This confuses me, everything does change, but when you really think about it, none of these changes are significant enough to make any changes overall. The circle of life, our heart's journey through the seasons: birth, growth, reproduction, and death. You are born, and you live. You have relationships, become parents, grandparents, and then you die. This is life, even though we go through and experience changes, good and bad, on a daily basis- these changes are only stepping stones. A change is equal to nothing more than a weed in a lake, if that weed were to be removed, the whole lake wouldn't end, it wouldn't die. This missing piece would only affect maybe a few fish, a frog or two, or whatever else depended on that weed.
      Whether we like it or not, change is going to happen. So, for those of you who hate change, for those who avoid change at any cost, I am screaming out to you- learn! Learn to accept it, or deal with it , because if you don't you are going to struggle, my friend. Life is all about changes; every single day we exist there will be changes. Good, bad, predictable and unpredictable.
      The question I ask myself is, “what is the biggest change in my life?” There have been many, let me tell you, but the biggest, what is it? This question requires no thought at all. I know the biggest change in my life, without any doubt. It wasn't when my parents got divorced, or even when I had to make a choice as a kid who I wanted to live with. It wasn't when my father reorganized his priorities or even when I moved out. My biggest change was becoming close with my grandfather. He became and still is a major part of my life. I don't know where I would be without him. Looking back, I remember snuggling up with him and my grandmother every year on Christmas Eve; he always would get up early, and I would wake up when he did, to see if Santa had arrived. I remember bringing him what we called 'special quarters'. These were the quarters with the states on them. He collected these and would give me more money than they were worth in exchange. I remember the time he let me cut his hair when I was young, and the time he let me paint his toe nails a reddish color. I remember flying kites with him up over the hill, hunting with him, and even listening to his old music. Most of all, I remember him telling me he loved me. This was not stated with words, my grandfather was never a man of many words. He told me this by the way he held my hand. This is the one thing I cherished the most- feeling his hand in mine.
      On July 26th, 2009 he was diagnosed with cancer. I can't tell you how many times I sat on a hospital bed thinking “this is it.” It wasn't it, my fear of him dying was only replaced by more fear, a situation worse than before. A major stroke, septic shock, cancer spreading, life support, always a step down the ladder. Moving in and taking care of him was second nature to me. It was as easy as breathing. Being there by his side no matter the hour so he wouldn't fall, greeting him good morning, making him food, giving him his pills- during the day and throughout the night, changing the television channel, spending time with him, and even putting him to bed, guarding his life like it was my own. This was all a routine, but he continued to get worse. On top of what I used to do, there was now making sure he kept his oxygen on, making sure it was at the right level, giving more pills, and spending more time with him. All of this was normal to me. To me, it was my responsibility. Before long, instead of only talking to my grandmother, the nurses talked to me. Of course, I wasn't the only one there taking care of him, there was my grandmother, my cousin, her parents, and an amazing nurse- her name was Katie.
      According to the cycle of life, he had one 'season' left- death. No matter how hard we tried, it would happen. He was born, he lived, he had relationships, he became a parent, then a grandfather, and he died. In the end, I couldn't save him, but I was lucky enough to have been the last person to see him alive. I don't know if he waited for me to come home before he died, or maybe it was a coincidence. Either way, he died about 5 minutes after I got home. I went in and checked on him, he was breathing- alive, no. He wasn't the guy I knew, even though he was fighting for his life- he was waiting for the end. I walked out to make sure my grandmother was okay while the nurse checked his vital signs. No more than a minute passed when I heard her softly say my grandmother’s name. I knew then and there that he was gone- I went over to him and called for ‘Nan’, my grandmother. He was warm- he stayed this way for 3 hours. From pain and suffering, to peace- it was over. Well, this part of his life was over. What happens after that I cannot say. There has to be more after that though- this I do know. The circle of life refers to death as not the end but the seed of another life. Albert Einstein indirectly spoke of this, he said that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it merely changes form.
      What ever happened to him after that day, is a mystery. What isn't is that he is greatly missed by many. This was a major change in multiple people’s lives, but overall it had no more of a change than a missing weed out of the lake. I will always miss him, the way he held my hand, the way he smiled, and how he kept fighting when it seemed worthless. Even though he is gone, part of him was left behind. My grandfather- my hero, because of him my future became clear. I will be a nurse. He may no longer be physically here with me, but he always will be with me spiritually and in my heart.
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I love you, always and will never forget you. September 14, 2010