>>> Updated every New Moon <<<April 13, 2002
Dear astrologyTOMORROWtoday (tm) Reader,
Sharpei, My Beloved
Sharpei made me laugh, he also made me cry.
It was Nietzhche who said:
“When you say yes to a joy, you also say yes to a woe.”
Sharpei was with us for 5 years, 8 months and 7 days.
He died in his sleep.
When he went, it was as if the 5 years, 8 months and 7 days
were extinguished like a blown-out flame.
I like to think he died peacefully, painlessly and purposefully.
Did he choose a convenient time to pass on?
I suppose, all things considered, it could have been worse.
Like Chi-Chi who went before him, Sharpei was being such a
g o o d boy to the end.
Sharpei was loved in a very special and exclusive way.
Because he was a very special and exclusive … dog (I find it
hard to call him a dog for I think of him as a son).
But, like Chi-Chi (whom I did not think of as a daughter),
it wasn't always easy to show him love.
He wasn’t physically repulsive like Chi-Chi due to disease.
On the contrary, Sharpei was a majestic looking alpha male.
This “gentle giant” was difficult to love only because there
were two alpha males in my immediate family of dogs and
the two couldn’t live in harmony together.
Since Sharpei was the less house-trained of the two and the less
senior, he was the one who had to live outside the main living
area of the house.
Confined to the back of the house, he was usually pining and
yearning for my company.
I couldn’t spend as much time with him as we both wanted
and needed due to time constraints and practicalities.
For 2 years and 3 months of his life, he even had to live at
various other places away from “home”.
Those were not happy times for dear Sharpei.
And as of this writing, it seems as if those times will haunt me
for the rest of my life. :(
Again, anybody who's a dog lover will understand how difficult
it is to love a dog from a distance.
Not only are dogs made to be patted, stroked, cuddled, scratched,
sung and talked to (ok, *I* need to sing and talk to them! :))
plus played with, they also need to be around their owners with
whom they have bonded with.
More than a matter of sentiment, to the dog, being in the close
proximity of it’s caretaker is a matter of survival and security.
Dogs know they need their owners for ‘resource’ and in the
absence of their owners, they feel a lot of anxiety.
Yet, for the 2 years and 3 months of his life, Sharpei had to
make-do with daily walks twice a day with not much else.
During that period, he was sometimes even kenneled with the
other dogs.
(And I mean other “dogs” – Sharpei was more than a dog,
he was my son.)
And we now know how stressful that can be for dogs, never
mind one as sensitive and people-oriented as Sharpei was.
Again, I take comfort from the belief that Sharpei is still ‘alive’
in his consciousness.
Again, perhaps eagerly awaiting the next meaningful and
purposeful incarnation or even already experiencing one.
His body may decompose but his personal consciousness goes on and
on and on in a progressive way until it blends with the absolute
consciousness Metaphysicians know as a state of divinity.
I like to think that when more and more of my loved ones
(humans and dogs) pass on, I shall continue to be able to draw
strength from this belief.
Sharpei is sorely, achingly and desperately missed.
Unlike with Chi-Chi, I find I can’t say: “Go, Sharpei, go …
Go where your body does not hinder your journey.”
With Sharpei, it’s different.
I find that I miss Sharpei too much to let go.
He was somehow the most fun, joyous and meaningful of the
“dogs” to experience.
Yet I know now, that when the “if you love someone, you will
let them go” phrase was coined, it was probably coined for a
circumstance like this.
I have to let Sharpei go where he must, in order to continue on
his soul’s journey.
Sharpei has taught me that it is truly “better to have loved and
lost than not to have loved at all”.
For in loving and experiencing Shapei, I have truly loved and
have truly been loved.
Love is a great driving force and it will do us humans some good
to realize that true love need not be experienced only amongst the
human species.
Animals can, and very often do, satisfy the urge amongst us
humans to love and be loved.
My dog children have taught me a lot.
They have also brought out the best in me.
I am so grateful to be experiencing them at all.
So grateful to be going through time with them.
I could do so much worse.
I am thinking, if Sharpei’s sudden going away was like a flame
that was suddenly extinguished, then when all my dogs are gone,
it will be like a huge, raging bonfire in my life being put out.
I wonder if I would then bother with more dogs (all dogs have
different personalities), or whether I would decide to engage
in some other worthwhile causes.
Again, I am thinking that death must be harder for those of us
who are left behind.
We have to live with all the memories.
And in Sharpei’s case, I also have to live with the remorse
and regrets for what might have been.
I remind myself constantly of the saying:
“If by chance, yesterday was lost to grief, do not lose today
as well”.
I figure out all the mistakes I may have made with dear,
beloved Sharpei and the remaining dogs benefit from what
I have learned from my deeply felt loss.
I am wondering if the souls who pass on and whose
consciousness have thus been transformed have any kind of
memory at all.
I am aware of the Akashic Records but I’m thinking more
along the lines of whether Sharpei remembers me as “Mummy”
or whether I’m just a footnote in his Akashic Records.
A part of me wishes that Sharpei won’t move on so quickly.
What is 20 or 30 human years where he is?
When the time comes for me to walk through that big door
in the sky, I would love to be able to see Sharpei as he was
and to say (like I used to): “Chuckoo baby Sharpei, how are you?”
And to see him wag his tail like crazy (the way he used to) with
those dark, expressive eyes only he had.
Yessir, I always say, if there’s one thing the Universe does right,
it is to create lovely and useful animals like the ones I know
and have the privilege to play “mummy” to.
Again, I look at the other dogs and see that Sharpei's death
has not affected any of them adversely.
None of them (not even his lady companion of the last 19
months) seems to be missing him as I do.
If anything, the quality of their lives have gotten better after
his passing.
For they have one less dog to compete with for space, attention
love, you name it.
Again, what more can I learn from my dogs?
They seem to understand life and death on a different level.
They seem to live in the here and now.
They seem not to be concerned with the past or the future.
I affirm, yes, we believe animals have souls just like we do.
We interact with them on a soul-to-soul level.
For this reason, we urge humans to treat animals with the
dignity that any individual entity deserves.
We urge you to acknowledge that animals have a right to this
planetary real estate just as we think or feel we do.
We urge that if you cannot show kindness to animals,
then please refrain from unnecessarily hurting them.
We thank you for any act of kindness you might shower on
these creatures, dogs in particular.
I affirm, I believe that love is a verb.
My many dogs make me live this truism every day.
I believe that we should walk our talk.
I believe that we can each do what we can, while we can, to
make a positive difference.
And I believe we will all be richer for the experience.
Please see related write-ups:Many Happy Returns?: July 10, 2002
Life *Is* For The Living: May 12, 2002
Do Dogs Have Souls?: Apr. 13, 2002
Chi-Chi left us on Sept. 6, 2000The Meaning Of Life: Apr. 23, 2001
When You Love Someone, You Have To Let Them Go: Aug. 19, 1998
Until next time, :)
mEinah@astrologyTOMORROWtoday.com
