I want to thank everyone for all of the sweet comments about my Zeus. It's hard to believe tomorrow will mark a full week. Even harder to believe Lola has been gone for 2 1/2 months. The hole is our hearts is immense. I miss my big babies so very much, but do take comfort in knowing they are together again.... running, playing, napping... all without pain, without sickness, without cancer. They each brought immeasurable joy to our lives, and I can only hope they are watching over us now, knowing how very much they were, and are still, loved.
Sophie and Tut are doing the best they can. They've now lost both of their senior pack members, and are missing them greatly. Sophie has been spending some very quiet moments on the couch, while Tut has been doing his best to comfort Mommy. He wants to snuggle nearly all the time now, but Sophie sneaks in some Mommy snuggles when she can wants to.
They both have been going thru spurts of wanting to play, which makes me happy. Tut is back to asking to play fetch in the house at least once a day, and Sophie has started grabbing her favorite squeaky toys again. Cleary they knew to settle way down when their sister and brother were sick. Now we're all just trying to remember to play a little...
My hounds are also taking notice of even the slightest changes going on at this point... which makes spring cleaning a little challenging. I decided to try and get my yarn stash organized on Saturday (or, at the very least, get the majority of it out of our living room and into a closet). In order to move some bins, I had to move the dog beds. I piled four of them up in one spot, along with a bunch of toys... then this happened.
Tut went over to the pile, sniffed it, sat on top and gave me a stern look follow by a loud sigh. It's as if he was saying "you are so not taking Zeus and Lola's favorite beds away." He guarded them until he fell asleep. It was quite sweet.
No worries baby boy, we are not getting rid of any of the beds. Sure, we have way too many in the living room and bedroom now for 2 dogs, but so what. Neither Sophie or Tut spent much time on the living room beds in the past, except during Lola's cancer battle when they cuddled with her daily. Over the past week I've caught them both claiming a bed at least once a day, even if only for a minute or two. It's very sweet to see. I've also found myself sitting down on the beds in the middle of the living room from time to time (yes, usually while shedding many tears). When I do, they'll immediately come over and plop down in my lap or ask to play.
As much as our hearts are broken, we're working hard at remembering all those years of pure happiness and joy. Suddenly going from a 4-pack to a 2-pack is truly devastating. We miss Lola and Zeus more than anything, yet we're all working hard at remembering to play a little and smile a lot, knowing that's what Lola and Zeus would want.
6 comments:
As you know Fudge went into a deep depression after Samba and Sky died. It was so bad that our vet has warned me about watching him when anything happens to Morgan. Dogs do grieve and they'll have their bad days so keep watch and keep those hugs coming.
And you finally have the weather to play. This has been so hard for all of you, but the spring weather will help you a little. And it's nice to think of your "other pack of 2" playing together again.
Without play, it's all work. And all work is no fun.
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I am so sorry. Everyone and every pet grieves differently. And the healing process will be different for everyone. Again, so sorry to hear of your losses.
What a touching post. Thank you.
The beds still smell like their friends, launderings wouldn't get rid of the essence of a dog so it's a way to stay connected. Flowers on a grave of sorts. It's loving to see. I also like the return to play now that the vigil is past. Because life is so daily, it just goes on and on doesn't it? I am so sorry for the pack's loss but am glad you are able to write about it. We all must face this part... LeeAnna at not afraid of color....with an aging poodle
This has been a particularly hard 9 months on all of us. My husband and I are empty nesters. He is fighting advanced stage cancer, and one would think that is enough to deal with - but no. We lost our oldest dog last June, just from old age. Then, within what seemed like only weeks, but it was a couple of months, we lost another dog to liver cancer. Then another elderly one who was diabetic, blind and deaf started walking in circles, then began to have seizures. He passed last month, they think due to a brain tumor. We decided against an autopsy, just because I could not picture them cutting him up to look and see. We went from 7 dogs to 4 dogs in 9 months. The grief is palpable. On top of that, we have 2 14-year old dogs, one 12 year old dog and one youngster. I feel like waking up in the morning is dicey - I count who is breathing - my husband first, then dogs. This is horrible. Thank you to Lee Anne for sending this page to me. I know we are not alone, those of us who have "packs", but Sparky (our oldest who is still alive - he'll be 15 in August) seems so lost., He can no longer jump up on the furniture to sit with us, because early in 2014 somehow he snapped his left front leg in half, breaking both bones and had to have a metal plate put in. Then, unbelievably, the plate broke 10 days later and they had to re-do the surgery. Oh my. We will march on! I would rather have had them all in my life, even with this pain, than not known them at all.
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