sera

Hello Tim, I empathize with the pain you are feeling over the loss of your best friend, Chinook! Tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary of the day I made the decision to release my precious Puli, "Seraphim." Like you, I prayed during Sera's thirteen years of life that the Lord would painlessly and mercifully take her when the time came. I did not want to make the decision I ultimately made. On the early morning of June 9th, 2012, Sera and I sat in the garden outside the animal hospital (200 miles from our home) to enjoy a few last moments together. Sera saw our car in the parking lot. She walked to the car door, wanting desperately to come home. It broke my heart not to oblige her final wish but multiple doctors told me there was a good chance that with her congestive heart failure she could not survive the trip home because of the change of altitude. As I hysterically said goodbye to her, she looked at me with her expressive brown eyes, begging me, I know, to let her remain with me longer. To this day, I feel guilty and I regret my decision. There must have been another way to let her die peacefully and naturally. And, as you want to be reunited with Chinook, I want nothing more than to be reunited with my Seraphim, my husband, and our previous Puli and Beardie who preceded me in life eternal. Marty has shared some wonderful resources with you. Please let me share a couple of verses from Scripture that reinforce my belief that our God is a loving God Who loves ALL He has made and desires the suffering of no one! In the first chapter of Genesis, God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures".... then AFTER creating the animals, God said, "Let us make man in our image after our likeness." And God saw everything He had made, and indeed it was very good (Genesis1:31). In Genesis, before the great flood, God told Noah to build an ark and bring with him every living thing of all flesh: birds, and cattle and every creeping thing that moves upon the earth, "so they may abound on the earth, and increase and multiply on the earth." Following the flood, God again spoke to Noah. "Behold I am establishing my covenant with you and with every creature with you: THE BIRDS, CATTLE, AND ALL THE WILD ANIMALS OF THE EARTH.... Then the Lord said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you, AND EVERY LIVING CREATURE WITH YOU, for perpetual generations: I am setting My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth, the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh." (Emphases mine.) What do these references mean to me? They mean that God loved and valued the animals so much that He included them and all creation in His covenant! And, this covenant with the animals, creation, and us is but one proof of the value, and purpose, and eternal nature of ALL creation! Nothing God has made is disposable or useless. Nothing that IS, or nothing that happens, is without meaning, eventhough we can't see it at the time. All we have to do is open wide our eyes to see that all people, the entire universe, AND ALL ANIMALS are evolving and becoming!!!!! How glorious is that? Scripture abounds with reassuring references but let me close with another that I find comforting. "Take delight in the Lord, and He shall give you your heart's desire. Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in Him, and He will bring it to pass... Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him." Tim, just as I believe that the sun will rise tomorrow, I have faith that if I put my trust in the Lord, He will give me my heart's desire. And what is my heart's desire? To be reunited with my family in, and for, eternity. In closing, your video tribute to Chinook is a beautiful and enduring testament to your love for Chinook. It brought tears to my eyes! When my Sera died, I added a tribute to her and our previous Puli, Pawsha, on the Puli Rescue Trust Memorial Wall. If you click on Seraphim's and Pawsha's photos, you can read my memorial tribute to each of them. http://www.pulirescue.org/apps/memwall/memorial.asp On the anniversary of each of their births and deaths, I make donations to the Puli and Beardie Rescue/Charitable Trusts. It's my way of honoring their memories. I also donated memorial icons of the above creation verse and Noah's ark to my local veterinarian. Hopefully, these icons will help others remember how much our God, like us, loves the animals of this world. And yes, I still grieve. Yes, I still weep. But I have hope and faith in the future! God bless and comfort you! jr

Thank you for sharing your story and your memorial to Happy. I am so very sorry for your loss and I know how much you suffered with Happy during his struggle with congestive heart failure. June 9th, 2013, will be the one year anniversary of losing my 13-yr. old puppy to congestive heart failure and its accompanying complications. There is not a day I don't cry and miss her terribly. Every day I relive the events of each day this time last year and every day I have wondered how I will get through the anniversary of her passing. My friend, reading your story about you and Happy has given me strength and support. Thank you for sharing and my friend, I know we will be reunited with our loved ones in the future. Again, my thoughts and prayers are with you and Happy. And thank you for sharing.

Dear Friend: On June 9th of this year, I had to make the same decision you just made. I share all the feelings you are experiencing but I am still not ready to talk about them. All I can tell you is I believe that, in spite of our doubts, in the fullness of our love and selflessness, we did the best we could at the time for our precious children. I also believe that our babies (mine was 13 yrs. old) are receiving the message that we love them and are grieving them severely. Your baby, and mine, are now whole and healthy, and I'm sure they are wishing they could lick away our tears and assure us that all is well. I am a religious person and I look to the story of Noah's Ark to confirm my belief that a loving God loves ALL of His creation and He will reunite us not only with our two-legged loved ones (in my case, my husband) who have gone before us to prepare a place for us, but also our four-legged loves ones who miss us as much as we miss them! My friend, there is a precious little book called "A Travel Guide To Heaven" by Anthony DeStefano. It's a cheerful, uplifting book about the joys and material/physical experiences we have to look forward to when we are bodily reunited for all eternity with those we love. I mention this book because the author devotes an entire chapter to "Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?" I read and re-read this chapter. It gives me comfort. I also return often to this forum because, though I cannot bring myself to talk about my experience, I weep with those who mourn and I find comfort in knowing that I am not alone in my own feelings of extreme sorrow and guilt. I send you my hugs and my prayers are with you and your precious little baby! And, no matter how much we suffer emotionally, at the end of the day I believe we WILL all be with our family again!!!!!!!! As for me, I count the days, the minutes, and even the breaths I take until we are reunited again. God bless.