[Dailydrool] Afterwards

[Beverly Szaton via Dailydrool]

What comes next? There you are with the unbuckled collar, the empty bowl,
the slack leash and--oh god--her favorite stuffie,  chewed to an
unrecognizable form to all except you: and the tears.

Saying goodbye was bad enough but this....the physical manifestation of one
loved and gone is a thousand times worse.

I know people who make little shrine-like things, and that's fine but I
haven't the space. Collars and tags and leashes and that one special toy
are picked up, cleaned and put in a drawer with all the others. That's the
best I can do.
Later I will make a folder for the dog with all the pertinent papers and
medical records and so on and a photo perhaps and file it in the bookcase.
Very early dogs did not get this service and now I am sorry.

My motto is: Keep everything. You can throw it out later, when the pain is
not so great.

​
> I
> ​ think it is worth noting that I am always the one who does all this. And
> I do it before the others return home to a less full household, to one less
> tail-wag, a quieter greeting. I have not been without a dog since the
> 1980s. I cannot imagine not having at least one still around, filling the
> holes, breathing softly in my ear, letting me hold him close.
>

​MomPerson to Conley, MertaLou and Doc

bgszap2 at gmail.com​

> ​
>
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