Our beloved friend Missy passed to the other side this evening. She is 14 years old and could chase a green tennis ball endlessly. At the end she was surrounded by those she loved the most and wrapped in a warm blanket and even warmer love. She insisted that she would breathe her last breath by herself and that she would die as she lived. Full on… She did not want the decision of life and death taken from her, and so we gave her this gift. It was not easy. When you share your life with an animal friend it is usually inevitable that they will leave the building before you do.
My daughter, full of grief, wondered if she had done enough, loved enough, paid enough attention. We give what we can, we learn from our misgivings, and we move forward with the knowledge that we too are organic beings. Just like the tomato plant we spring from a seed, we stretch ourselves to the light, we blossom and grow, we are fruitful, we ripen, and if left on the vine long enough, we begin to wither, and finally to go back into the earth to begin the cycle once again.
Death is the final journey in this life. Sometimes it is quick and startling, sometimes it is long and drawn out, sometimes it happens when we are young and sometimes it happens when we are old bones; but happen it does… to each of us. This is why each breath that we breathe should be fiercely joyful, even if it is a struggle. We have earned the right to breathe, simply by our triumphant entrance through the perils of the birthing tunnel. We traverse the unknown; sometimes in joy, sometimes in fear, sometimes in wonder…We use the tools we are given or the ones we have unearthed by our own ingenuity and we live…we breathe… we chase the green tennis ball until our tongues hang so far out of our mouths that they drag on the ground…and still we do not give up…we are running towards our own humanity…our own evolution…And if we are lucky, in the end, as we enter the next birthing chamber, we will be surrounded by a warm blanket, and warmer love…Journey well, Missy. We love you.