IN LIVING MEMORY...

Two dear friends of mine have had to start that painful journey this month, of transitioning from a physical/spiritual connection with their beloved dog to a purely spiritual one.


It can take a lot of work to lean into that wrenching pain instead of away from it, and allow ourselves to find that sacred space inside of us where the agony and ecstasy merge; where love and connection lives and can never, ever die.

Thanks to Gretchen Kuhns for this lovely poem by Henry Van Dyke, which was written on the beautiful memorial cards she sent out for her heart dog, Biskit.

To our boys, Frisbee and Biskit- we bless you in your transitions. We bless your pet parents. May your souls soar free while always staying connected to those you loved most.

“I am standing upon the seashore.
A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts
for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says;
"There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"
Gone from my sight. That is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull
and spar as she was when she left my side
and she is just as able to bear her
load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone
at my side says, "There, she is gone!"
There are other eyes watching her coming,
and other voices ready to take up the glad
shout;
"Here she comes!"
And that is dying.”