>>> Updated every New Moon <<<May 12, 2002
Dear astrologyTOMORROWtoday (tm) Reader,
Life *Is* For The Living
Another death, another goodbye.
Another grave in my garden.
Lady gulped her last breath of life-sustaining oxygen on April
29, 2002.
With that, went “Scooter Girl” aka “Happy Girl” aka
“Miracle Girl”.
She was “Scooter Girl” because she had an itchy backside and
was often scratching herself while dragging her butt on the
ground, ‘scooter-ing’ like.
She was “Miracle Girl” because she had a ‘phantom pregnancy’
and nursed a litter of pups that weren’t hers.
Although spayed, she still manifested enough milk to nurture
the orphaned pubs.
And she was “Happy Girl” because it took so little to make
her happy.
I myself was quite sick with a virus infection which warranted
a visit to the hospital.
I was recovering somewhat when Lady took ill.
There I was, cleaning this and that and Lady was following me
all over the house.
Had I known how sick she was, I would have stopped all that
housekeeping and given her more of my attention.
But here is the rub.
No matter how you remind yourself that it will be different
with the next dog, housekeeping and life’s chores will take
up a lot of your time on Earth.
As much as you’d like to spend time with your loved ones,
there never will be enough time to spend with them.
No matter how you prepare yourself for the next “goodbye”,
there will always be regrets for something left undone and/or
unsaid for some reason.
In Lady’s case, because of my own recent low white blood
cell count (meaning, low immunity), I couldn’t touch and hold
her like I otherwise would have.
When she died suddenly, I screamed her name out loud for
all the world to hear.
I felt the stabbing loss of yet another (premature) departure so
soon after the last (with Sharpei, less than 4 months ago) and
was thankful that the thunder storm then, helped tone down the
(melo)drama.
Yes, love (and losing loved ones) involve some degree of pain.
But what is the alternative – not to love?
First came my four ‘children’ – Boy, Lady, Plenty and
Sharpei.
Then, the ‘grandchildren’ arrived – Harmony, Loi-Loi and
Charity.
Next, the only ‘great-grandchild’ appeared – Chi-Chi.
Followed by the ‘charity cases’ – Tau-Tau, Whitey, Girl-Girl,
Uh-Oh and Putey.
My active involvement with dogs all started with Boy, Lady
and Plenty.
At the time, I needed to bolster security where I lived and
welcomed too, the companionship that the ‘children’ offered.
It was a ‘win-win’ situation when I rescued the dogs from
their ‘stray’ status while they were about a month old.
Six months after the first three dogs, I connected with Sharpei
at a dog show.
He was going for a “song” and I thought I would breed his
puppies to meet some of the expenses of caring for the other
dogs.
Not long after Harmony, Loi-Loi and Charity came along,
I discovered that there are very few real dog lovers around.
Most people have dogs for their own convenience and as
soon as it becomes inconvenient, they dump the dogs.
Feeling responsible for the dogs OPC (my ‘project partner’)
and I brought into the world and failing to secure a good
home for them, we found ourselves stuck with the ‘grandchildren’.
Chi-Chi, as I’ve explained, was an accidental birth.
Girl-Girl is the remaining ‘grandchild’ of Sharpei’s litter of 10
that we managed to track down after OPC had a dream.
In the dream, the litter’s (deceased) mummy directed OPC to
the place where Girl-Girl was being kept by very cruel people.
OPC had to use all his resourcefulness to rescue Girl-Girl from
her horrible fate at the hands of such cruel human beings.
The other rescued dogs were all strays that OPC and I just
*had* to rescue.
I’m aware that as the dogs start aging, I’m going to be burying
at least one of them, if not a few of them, a year.
Sharpei’s death was very hard to take and I’m thinking that it
ought to get easier with each subsequent passing.
At first, I thought I was not going to write anymore about any
of my dogs’ dying (who needs to know?).
Now I think I will continue to chronicle each and every death
as if each death will be like some kind of milestone for me.
Sharpei is a life’s defining experience as in, before Sharpei,
I was a certain way and then after Sharpei, I find I am a
different sort of way.
Lady, on the other hand, is more of a milestone even as she
leaves her mark on me as well.
I think Boy’s and Plenty’s eventual deaths will probably be
defining moments as they are the last two of my ‘children’.
I used to say that it is better for the ‘children’ to go before I do
so that they would not want for anything and could go in peace.
I was and still am, committed to seeing them off as best as I can.
Right now I think the other dogs’ deaths will be more
milestones in a life fraught with crisis, pain and learning.
Wish me strength as I continue on my path.
Please see related write-ups:Many Happy Returns?: July 10, 2002
Do Dogs Have Souls?: Apr. 13, 2002
Sharpei left us on Jan. 7, 2002
Until next time, :)
mEinah@astrologyTOMORROWtoday.com
