A Peaceful Passing

A few years ago, I wrote a book, Loving & Losing an Animal Companion. It includes 9 guided audio journeys. (Those are all free and available for anyone to use. You'll find them under More in the menu bar - go to Loving & Losing.) Since then, every now and then, I get a note from somebody telling me it helped them. Warms my heart, every time.

It happened again, just the other day. It was such a sweet little story that I thought I'd share. This is the note I received....

My sweet furry angel, Henry left this world 3 weeks ago at age 16. For the past year, I watched him progressively lose his eyesight, hearing, and ability to walk. I took him regularly for acupuncture - which helped some, but his age was not cooperating. The last few months he seemed to be disoriented and did not want to go out for walks anymore. 

I kept on hoping that he would improve. But it was not happening. It was hard to watch him want to sleep all day, with his only interest being food. I didn’t know what to do.

So, I started listening to your recordings. One of them mentioned that our pets hang in mainly because they are more concerned about us. You suggested having a conversation with him, to tell him that I will be okay if he decides to go. So, one morning I tried it. I moved Henry close to me, and while I was petting him I told him that I would be fine if he decided that it was time for him to go. That conversation wasn’t an easy one, but I tried to be genuine.

After our conversation, as usual, he slept most of the day. Hours later, he woke with very unusual behavior. It appeared to be an extreme health issue, and I blamed myself for letting him get to this point. It was late at night, so I looked for an emergency vet in the area.

Henry left peacefully that night. I really do feel that the conversation I had with him that morning helped in his transition. I gave him permission to go.