tonepoems

Dear Marty, Thank you so much for your kind words and advice. The past few days have been so difficult for us...beyond all of the emotions and thoughts involved in bereavement, we weren't prepared for the physical withdrawal and the "hauntings" - each of which brings our day to a complete standstill. Fortunately, we've received much love and support from our friends. We have chosen to have Kong cremated tomorrow morning, and have arranged to transport him and be present at the facility. As lovely as the pet cemetary was, it didn't make sense to memorialize him in a place he's never been. I am so sorry for you loss as well. It has been amazing to be exposed to online communities like this one and to see that we're not alone in the in our grief. Thank you for giving me hope that the emptiness we feel in our hearts now will slowly be filled with happy memories. I look forward to reading the articles. Many thanks again, Niki

We lost our dog, Kong this weekend. Unfortunately, it was very sudden. We place him on our balcony before we went to bed and found him struggling for his last breath 5 hours later. We rushed him to the animal hospital, but unfortunately were not able to make it in time. The first thing we're trying to get over is incredible guilt. If we hadn't put him on the deck, perhaps we could have heard him, or even if we couldn't save him, he could have at least been in a more familiar final resting place. Add to that is the pain of losing and missing him. It's been very difficult to deal with this. Today my husband and I started dealing with funeral services which in itself has us completely torn. We either want to bury him at an animal cemetary which is on land that's absolutely beautiful and is protected property...or cremate him and scatter his ashes off Mt. Washington in NH...it was the one time we took him on vacation and he absolutely loved it. The benefit of the cemetary is that we can visit him...and in looking at the other tombstones today and speaking the names of the other departed pets...it was a nice feeling of paying homage to them and I like the idea that someday, someone may do the same and utter his name. On the other hand...the symbolism of taking him on a mountain top and adding some meaning to the location sounds right too...the only problem is that we feel uneasy about the cremation process. I was hoping some of you could share your stories of what you chose and how you feel about it now. Perhaps it will lend us some guidance. Kong was our most precious dog, and we hope the whole we have in our hearts right now will be filled with more and more wonderful memories of our 12 years together. -Niki