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Hi Bob and Moo - so pleased to read you have your girl home with you where she belongs :) I so have my fingers crossed for you on the job front Bob, because that means little darling Stella wherever she comes from....... will be making her big entrance into your lives!
Thinking of you lots
Trish xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Well I had my first dream with Lulu running around, and though in the past I would be a bit confused, I remember just before I woke up, thinking that this was a dream, Lulu has crossed the Rainbow Bridge! I wonder why it is we dream often of people we have known and pets after they are gone. I used to have dreams of my Susie, before.
As a surprise treat, here is a picture of Susie when she was a new puppy! Susie
You are so lucky, honey, to have dreamed about our girl. I wish I would dream about her. I am so happy that we finally got her remains home with us. It is comforting some how, to know she is home with us, once again where she belongs. The cats are glad to have her back too. They both went over to the box and rubbed on it. Then they sat there and meowed at it. I moved it from the living room to the family room, and Molly noticed it gone, right away. She started meowing and went and sat right where it had been sitting....and they call them dumb animals. I don't think so.
Moo
I firmly believe they come to us in our dreams when we need them.
I used to dream of my father for many years after his death. I alway woke up feeling very happy and calm. I would tell my husband "Dad came to visit last night". I could not force myself to meet him in my dreams by talking about him before bed or looking at pictures; nope he would not show up then. Dad would just pay a visit when I least expected it but when it seemed I really needed him and did not even know it.
Enjoy the visits.:)
Hi Lulu's mom and dad. I've been out of touch for a few weeks so am getting this news kind of late, but I am so sorry for your loss. I feel your pain and sort of feel like those of us who have lost our little ones this year are sort of in the same club. Each step we take on the path since the loss is a milestone. The first walk alone, the bringing the ashes home, the first time on the treadmill without her watching.
I'm at the 7 week mark and I still have those moments. I live alone and I don't cook, and I was forever ordering too much food so I could bring things home to Baxter. Eating at the places with his favorite treats gives me a pang every time. There is this gourmet hamburger place that I brought two burgers from the week that he passed away. I was so thrilled when he ate his hamburger and mine too! I actually got some beef out of the freezer and cooked four more patties and he ate those too! That was a happy day. And now I haven't been able to bring myself to eat at that hamburger place. Yesterday I went through the chick filet drive through, I always brought home extra nuggets for Baxter, and I found myself buying them yesterday too. I dumped them on a plate for him and left it out overnight.
I haven't been back to the pond where I took him on walks yet. I want to, to walk there and think of him, but it will be so painful. You know after the first couple of weeks I worried because I felt that I wasn't grieving enough, that I was bouncing back too fast. What I've found is, though we get back into the routine of living our lives, the grief is still quite painful and lingering. I still cry hard sometimes, missing him. I think this is normal. I think this will lessen over time, but that the memories and love will remain as strong as ever. I worried about that too, that the memory would fade, but I still have bright vivid moments of remembering things about Baxter, as plain as if the events happened just yesterday. So I don't worry about losing the memories now. I envy you your dreaming of Lulu - you are very lucky =) I hope that happens for me too.
PS Addy posted as I was writing my own little note. But I agree 1000%, Addy you are so wise!
Thanks Addy & Gummysmurf, I am going to read more from 'Embraced by the Light', it's a short read, so then will work on more grieving exercises. I did go to a local dog rescue place after trying to find more about the job in Port Huron yesterday. They introduced me to about 5 or there 15 or dogs they have taken in. They sure are doing a great job and have a spacious place for them.
I took a walk this morning and could feel the presence of Lulu around me. I did my own grieving exercise or started it. I start it with this question: What does it take to be a human? (Now what will lead after this is replace human with dog or whatever kind of pet you have).
But to answer, and I have only partly done so: To be a human is to have a physical presence which includes different systems. You have lungs to breathe, you have a stomach to take in food and water. You have to have a nervous system and humans also have a brain that is in charge of this system. You have other organs in your body needed for life processes. Now when you leave this world you will stop using your stomach and lungs and your brain. So then what is left? (Well this is as far as I got on this question, because it is also where people may differ. Some say that is it, we are all physical and others will say that is not true, there is something else we have and our physical body is just a vehicle to our 'soul' or whatever you want to call what is us or what is human?
Well, we will leave it at that for now, I will go on with this later.
Saturday morning I woke having dreamed again of Lulu and another one of my dogs, Lenny. Lenny was a small dog I had for a few years until one day, un-neutered Lenny disappeared. Though I would check the humane and pound places, I heard through the grapevine that a chicken farmer may have been responsible for me never finding him. Well Lulu did and they ran along areas I was familiar with and I had to run pretty good to keep up with them.
I have finished 'Embraced by the Light' and I feel good that when we go, we will see our pets.
Now today I was able to treadmill and listen to music. But after the first mile, I kept looking in spots for Lulu, on a rug, outside, chewing a nylabone ... I had to stop and go upstairs and I brought down a framed picture of Lulu from four years ago on the lawn standing proud.
I was able to treadmill 2.7 more miles for my goal of 3.7 miles that I usually try to do.
I did visit a dog rescue place on Thursday after checking on the tech. director position. They showed me five dogs, from nine years to just over two years all lovable.
I had another nibble on a job prospect today, with a LinkedIn message from someone that read my profile and is thinking that she can use my skills. So I keep looking as I wait for that hopeful interview this week.
Well Moo has the Oscar Previews on, I will try to watch some of it. There are probably a couple of movies I would love to see, maybe 'Argo' & Moo read 'Life of Pi' and liked it.
Hi Dad,
You know, every time you write something I think that you and your wife sound like such lovely people. I know that any dog would be lucky to find his/her forever home with you. Good for you for seeking to adopt. (and I have my fingers crossed for your job search).
Well afternoon and back to Grieving for pets. One chapter of the book talks of the benefits of pets, such as lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, certainly increased physical exercise, stress relief, social interaction ... Pets teach us responsibility as we teach pets, our Lulu was great at the nursing home. She would bring a toy in her mouth and several residents asked to pet her, and even see them in their rooms as I brought her to visit my dad who spent the last part of 2011 in a home. One exercise I liked in the chapter was: What is your favorite non-fiction animal story? What makes it your favorite? I chose 'The Littlest Hobo' and the original series. Below is an episode from 1963 for nostalgia. I think they redid the program in the 1970s or 1980s. The German Shepherd int he series travels the country and stops for a short time to help people. Each episode has her walking down the highway and for a short time a person or family is helped by this dog. When the people around the littlest hobo are helped and they thank the dog, he leaves to go on to another town and to help someone else.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzYJBoDq6jw