Tag: Grief Loss and Bereavement

For the Love of a Cat

Published on by J. Kelland Perry26 Comments

Last week, a friend of ours had to say goodbye to her 20-year-old orange tabby, Theo.

Understandably (to us, anyway), she is having a rough time over it.

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Mr. Theo
June 1996 – 8 September 2016
Ever remembered, ever loved.

Just a cat, you may be thinking? Well, the truth is, to anyone who loves a cat the way they deserve to be loved, her grief is real and profound. Not only is a cat like a beloved child, but it is also a companion when you are lonely, a source of comfort when you are suffering or simply having an off day, and a wellspring of joy to anyone who appreciates animals for their natural beauty and abilities.

Our own cats, Maisie and Vivian, recently turned nine, so I guess you could say they now have about half their natural lives behind them.

“I love cats because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.”
—Jean Cocteau 

“Time spent with a cat is never wasted.”
—Colette 

“What greater gift than the love of a cat?”
—Charles Dickens

Is there a special feline in your life?
Or are you more of a dog person?
Have you lost a beloved pet recently?
Please share in the comments below.

Friday Bouquet #22

Published on by J. Kelland Perry

 

Karen at Healing Your Grief knows all about the enormous shock of suddenly losing a precious child. She lost her nine-year-old son to a car accident, and found a way to journey through the pain by writing about it in her blog.

In her own words:

When we tragically lose one of our children, our entire world comes to a grinding stop and everything we have ever believed is questioned.
Through understanding this journey you have been given, my wish for you is to connect to a new hope and to a process of complete healing.
You may at first not understand how you could ever survive this loss, that there can be no way out of this pain, yet over time, I promise, there is a way through.”

I have chosen to share her first post because it explains how she is courageously surviving such a profound tragedy.

My Journey – Walking Through Grief

shamanismandhealing.wordpress.com
shamanismandhealing.wordpress.com

Comments are closed here in the hope you will visit Karen’s blog.
If you do, please tell her Jennifer sent you.

❤

“Life Means All That It Ever Meant”

Published on by J. Kelland Perry15 Comments
 The past few years have taken our mother on a difficult journey, and our family right along with her.
Mercifully, she finally succumbed to her illness last week, and

we were able to say our goodbyes as she entered into her eternal rest.

I found this poem that speaks of my sweet mother’s lifelong attitude of pragmatism and hope. Somehow it gives me strength and reassurance, reminding me how lucky I was to have known and loved this woman who was my mother.

 All Is Well
Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away to the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other,
That we are still.
Call me by my old familiar name,
Speak to me in the easy way
which you always used.
Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.

 Laugh as we always laughed
at the little jokes we enjoyed together.
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was,

Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of a shadow on it.

 Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was,
There is absolute, unbroken continuity.
Why should I be out of mind
because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you,
for an interval.
Somewhere very near.
Just around the corner.

All is well.

 Henry Scott Holland
1847-1918

You Never Left

Published on by J. Kelland Perry7 Comments

On that dark, torturous day when your heart stopped beating, I could hardly breathe.  I couldn’t feel.  How could I myself  bear to live, with this black chasm of grief where my soul used to be?  You had always been my solid rock, my fortitude, and more times than it should have been, my safe harbour.  And without a doubt, you were my biggest fan.  You were the one who taught me that it was not only okay to be different, but it was desirable.  You understood me when others couldn’t.  How would I survive now?  How could any of us?

Somehow, though, as each day was born, we went on.  I thought I was learning to live without you.  The days became weeks, then months, that became swallowed up by year after passing year.  Life’s problems and challenges had to be dealt with.  Its promise and joys waited to be fulfilled.  Often I would ask,  what would you do, Dad?  How would you handle this?  How can I face this, or celebrate that, so you would be proud of me?

And now, even after all this time, in the midst of sleep, deep inside a dream, I feel the grace of your presence, so familiar;  and in the middle of an adventure when the adrenaline is racing through my being, I see your eyes mirroring my exhilaration.  I even hear you joke and laugh when I take myself too seriously.   Again and again you resurface, and we are face to face, sharing the moment.  I feel the longed for warmth of your smile.

Love truly is stronger than Death.  How do I know this?  Because, Dad, you have been at the core of everything that ever mattered to me.  You never really left me after all.