“Set your hearts on things above, not on the passing things of earth….” Col. 3:1

The loss was staggering—Barbara and I both felt it like a punch in our stomachs, and for days we grieved. I wrote a poem about the death, and cried when I read it to a friend. He, of course, did not understand, because it was just a dog that had died.

Why did our dog’s death hit us so hard? Part of it was that she had been such a source of joy. She was beautiful, being half Husky and half German Shepherd, with one brown eye and one blue eye. She was exuberant, happy, full of energy and love, intelligent and faithful. But for me there was more: I had assumed we would have her for another 10 years or so. Not realizing it, I was holding her emotionally tightly in my hand,  unready for her departure. It was like my hand had to be painfully pried open to let her go.

As a result, I was dragged into the grief cycle from the beginning. You have probably heard of the grief cycle: Shock, anger, denial, overwhelming sadness, and if we continue in our pain, into depression. This, with time, may eventually lead out into the beginning of a new norm.

But, I am glad to say that I will have to never experience this type of trauma with any other deaths. I’ll tell you why in my next post.

Picture: our dog, Sheba