Hello, I’m Margo Rose, and I’d like to welcome you to the pet section of Body Aware Grieving. This section is intended to help people celebrate and potentially more on the relationship we have with our pets. We invite our community of readers and participants here at Body Aware Grieving to send in stories and images about the animals that they care for, and love. Regardless of what type of pet you’ve welcomed into your family. There are many aspects of owning a pet that we all share in common. We’ve taken on the responsibility for the daily needs of these animals invested in our finances and their care, and often made tough choices about end-of-life decisions when they become sick or elderly.
Often our pets are with us through a variety of life changes and jobs, homes, and romances, providing stability, companionship, and enjoyment on a very, very deep level. Yet, when these caring relationships come to an end, there are hardly any common rituals of how to grieve their loss. Sometimes just talking about our lives and how we’re enriched by our pets can be very, very gratifying. So I invite you to send in your own stories. Here’s an example from my own life. In 2001, I was recovering from the recent deaths of a fiance and my mother. When the September 11 attacks happened on the World Trade Center.
I was really craving the sweetness and joy of having a pet. It’s been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I adopted two little pet bunnies, bunny Moe and bunny Joe. Nine years later, I’m still with bunny Joe. And he’s outlived my father, my little sister, two aunts, and Moe who have since passed on. Joe just lights up my life. He’s a great friend and Buddy, just watching him eat, cleaning his little face. even watching him use his litter box is just an absolute pleasure is just a fun part of my day. My house is filled with an herb garden I’ve set up with him with over 12 different varieties of rotating plants, including basil, various kinds of mint, and his favorite is fresh strawberry plants. Moe died of old age about a year ago.
And since then Joe wants almost constant companionship and cuddle. Luckily, when I have guests over, they love to help pet him. Bunnies are very prone to upper respiratory infections as they age. And Joe has nearly died over the past winter. And even now with antibiotics and expensive that bills he’s still wheezing and sneezing. But he’s hopping around cute as can be. And he’s sort of making it through. Right now. I’m just trying to enjoy Joe as much as I can take as high-quality care of him as he needs and prepare myself sort of mentally and otherwise for the fact that he could be passing on at some point in the near future. When that happens, I’ll just open my life to some different opportunities and some new activities. And I’ll always miss and love him. Well, that’s my story about sharing my life with Joe. In the meanwhile, I invite you to share your story, your photos, images of your pets, and just a few stories about what your current or previous pets have meant to your life.
That’s all we can do is just enjoy each other and the community we have in common with our pets. Take care. Margo Rose.
