Parting Words from Moristotle (07/31/2023) tells how to access our archives of art, poems, stories, serials, travelogues, essays, reviews, interviews, correspondence….
With the pleasures of having an animal companion comes the sorrow of losing it. Our animal friends teach us much about the simple joys of life, lessons well worth the pain of loss. Jim
Uncle Mo so very sorry I know how much you all will miss him !! Roger was just saying yesterday how hard it will be to lose Roxie our Siberian Husky as he was petting her, it's always hard to lose one you love. Thinking of you ! Love Dawn
It's hard indeed to lose a pet. We lost Daisy, a dear little cat, last month, just short of her 20th birthday. Photos help, as do the memories of what make our pets special.
I know you and Carolyn must be very sad to lose Wally. He was always so dignified, intuitive, and loving. The life he led with you was not one of a mere household dog, but a treasured family member. He was lucky to have you for 13 years, and you him.
Ken, thank you. Another friend wrote me privately that his cat of 20+ years is dying. He and his wife lost their first dog (named Walter; Wally's official name was Sir Walter Raleigh) last year also. He says his heart feels the pain.
Kelly, indeed Wally was a family member. Carolyn told me on our walk a few minutes ago that she expected to get home and find Wally inside the door wagging his tail. I said, in our imagination he'd always be there wagging his tail. For as long as we can imagine.
But I'll probably miss him most of all at night, not there lying as close as he could either to his mama or to his papa.
hi, Morris, I am so sad for your loss! Wally was such a great companion. I still have the picture with him as my Facebook picture. I will miss him as well..
This goes without saying, but I am truly sorry to hear about Wally. I have loved and lost 6 dogs over the last 40 years, and saying goodbye never seems to get any easier. My thoughts are with you and Carolyn.
Losing our best friends is one of the hardest things in the world, isn't it? He looks like he was quite a fellow. I'm sorry for your loss, and hope comfort will find you both soon.
Thank you, Meng, Roger, Punkie Mommie, Southern Writer. Yes! One of the hardest things in the world. Every pet owner who euthanizes must agonize over the question: was it truly a good death? We think it was. Our wise vet thought so too; he would only seriously suffer more. Still, the trusting pet takes the shot with the very trust with which he took the treat. To look in those eyes, it rends the heart.
Meng, Wally's picture on your FaceBook! What a lovely thought. Good on you!
We did not know Wally, but judging by the comments he was truly a family member (some are not), making apparent his affections, likes, dislikes, etc. We have one, a 20 year old Siamese to whom we are currenting administering a sodium lactate injection every other day due to deminished kidney capacity which seems to have stabilized. I swear she gives more than she receives. Sounds like she and Wally would have been a great pair.
Bill and Ishrut, that would have been fascinating to find out, whether Wally and your Siamese would have hit it off. His only playmate (besides his mama and me) was the 11-year-old golden retriever we had when we brought Wally home, and the older guy seems to have gotten the worse of that, so assertive was our alpha-doggish Wally! That dog (Ruffy) was "put down" in November of that year; I trust that his final illness owed nothing to Wally.
I was so sorry to read about the loss of your Wally. Even though I never met Wally, I know how much he meant to you as you have shared Wally 'tales' with me because you know how much I care about Basset Hounds (my own and the ones I help rescue) and my cats.
It's never easy losing a beloved four-legged friend. You lose an unconditional love that is rarely matched by a human being. And, yes, if you close your eyes and listen with your heart you will probably be able to envision Wally's wagging tail many times in the future. I can still 'feel' the silkiness of the ears of my 'soul dog', Rosie, when I close my eyes and envision her laying across my lap and allowing me to stroke her ears. I have pictures throughout my home of Rosie and the three other Basset Hounds I've lost in recent years. Each time I look at them a memory will come to mind....which eventually made me smile.....and laugh.
No one has mentioned here about the Rainbow Bridge, so I'll share a link with you that I hope will give you some comfort: http://www.indigo.org/rainbowbridge_ver2.html. I know your religious beliefs aren't the same as mine, and this tribute might not affect you as it does me, but it is just that - a wonderful, loving tribute to our furry friends that leave us all to soon......I know my Daisy, Rosie, Maggie and Kelly welcomed Wally with open arms when they met him 'At The Bridge'....
I'm so very sorry to hear about Wally. From the way you talked about him, I know he was dearly loved and very lucky to have such a loving home where he was one of the family. I think he led a very good life. My cat of 18 years had to be put to sleep many years ago, and I still miss her. Our family pets are very precious to us, aren't they?
Dear Texas Cousin, Yes, indeed, we know of your beloved Bassets and of your work to rescue and shelter them!
I've been so "sheltered" myself, I guess, that I hadn't heard of "the Rainbow Bridge" until I saw what was written on the velvet bag from the vet containing the box of Wally's ashes: "Until We Meet Again At The Rainbow Bridge." That's a lovely fantasy, of course, bringing comfort to the many who believe it.
I tried to watch the program at the website whose link you provided, but I couldn't watch much of it. (Nor could I watch all of a memorial program that another dog owner prepared for his beloved lost pet.)
Somehow, such sentimentality offends my sense of reality. I prefer the sad, sober sense of Wally's final loss, prefer the tragic sense of the one-time-ness of life and the finality of death to the magically optimistic comedy of eternal return. I do not want to use a religious device to try to soften the sense of loss.
Nor do I need to fantasize a rainbow bridge in order to remember Wally often and in many ways, including when we occasionally call our new pup by Wally's name.
Nevertheless, thank you again for your kind remembrance and the additional information about the Rainbow Bridge.
"There is one best place to bury a dog. If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call—come to you over the grim, dim frontier of death, and down the well-remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel, they shall not growl at him, nor resent his coming, for he belongs there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth the knowing. The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master."
Mom and Dad I am so sorry. What a wonderful boy he was.
ReplyDeleteWally was a sweet guy. I'm so sorry. It's not easy to let go of such a fine companion and friend. My heart is with you.
ReplyDelete-Lissa
Thank you, thank you both.
ReplyDeleteWith the pleasures of having an animal companion comes the sorrow of losing it. Our animal friends teach us much about the simple joys of life, lessons well worth the pain of loss. Jim
ReplyDeleteUncle Mo
ReplyDeleteso very sorry I know how much you all will miss him !! Roger was just
saying yesterday how hard it will be to lose Roxie our Siberian Husky as
he was petting her, it's always hard
to lose one you love. Thinking of you !
Love Dawn
Thank you Jim for that wise observation, and Dawn for that sympathy born of painful empathy.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard indeed to lose a pet. We lost Daisy, a dear little cat, last month, just short of her 20th birthday. Photos help, as do the memories of what make our pets special.
ReplyDeleteMorris,
ReplyDeleteI know you and Carolyn must be very sad to lose Wally. He was always so dignified, intuitive, and loving. The life he led with you was not one of a mere household dog, but a treasured family member. He was lucky to have you for 13 years, and you him.
-Kelly
Ken, thank you. Another friend wrote me privately that his cat of 20+ years is dying. He and his wife lost their first dog (named Walter; Wally's official name was Sir Walter Raleigh) last year also. He says his heart feels the pain.
ReplyDeleteKelly, indeed Wally was a family member. Carolyn told me on our walk a few minutes ago that she expected to get home and find Wally inside the door wagging his tail. I said, in our imagination he'd always be there wagging his tail. For as long as we can imagine.
But I'll probably miss him most of all at night, not there lying as close as he could either to his mama or to his papa.
hi, Morris, I am so sad for your loss! Wally was such a great companion. I still have the picture with him as my Facebook picture. I will miss him as well..
ReplyDeletemeng
Hi Morris,
ReplyDeleteThis goes without saying, but I am truly sorry to hear about Wally. I have loved and lost 6 dogs over the last 40 years, and saying goodbye never seems to get any easier. My thoughts are with you and Carolyn.
Oh, Morris, I am so sorry. I'm sitting next to my sweet Rexie as I type and thinking how sad I am for you and Carolyn.
ReplyDeleteLosing our best friends is one of the hardest things in the world, isn't it? He looks like he was quite a fellow. I'm sorry for your loss, and hope comfort will find you both soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Meng, Roger, Punkie Mommie, Southern Writer. Yes! One of the hardest things in the world. Every pet owner who euthanizes must agonize over the question: was it truly a good death? We think it was. Our wise vet thought so too; he would only seriously suffer more. Still, the trusting pet takes the shot with the very trust with which he took the treat. To look in those eyes, it rends the heart.
ReplyDeleteMeng, Wally's picture on your FaceBook! What a lovely thought. Good on you!
We did not know Wally, but judging by the comments he was truly a family member (some are not), making apparent his affections, likes, dislikes, etc. We have one, a 20 year old Siamese to whom we are currenting administering a sodium lactate injection every other day due to deminished kidney capacity which seems to have stabilized. I swear she gives more than she receives. Sounds like she and Wally would have been a great pair.
ReplyDeleteBill and Ishrut
Bill and Ishrut, that would have been fascinating to find out, whether Wally and your Siamese would have hit it off. His only playmate (besides his mama and me) was the 11-year-old golden retriever we had when we brought Wally home, and the older guy seems to have gotten the worse of that, so assertive was our alpha-doggish Wally! That dog (Ruffy) was "put down" in November of that year; I trust that his final illness owed nothing to Wally.
ReplyDeleteMorris and Carolyn,
ReplyDeleteI was so sorry to read about the loss of your Wally. Even though I never met Wally, I know how much he meant to you as you have shared Wally 'tales' with me because you know how much I care about Basset Hounds (my own and the ones I help rescue) and my cats.
It's never easy losing a beloved four-legged friend. You lose an unconditional love that is rarely matched by a human being. And, yes, if you close your eyes and listen with your heart you will probably be able to envision Wally's wagging tail many times in the future. I can still 'feel' the silkiness of the ears of my 'soul dog', Rosie, when I close my eyes and envision her laying across my lap and allowing me to stroke her ears. I have pictures throughout my home of Rosie and the three other Basset Hounds I've lost in recent years. Each time I look at them a memory will come to mind....which eventually made me smile.....and laugh.
No one has mentioned here about the Rainbow Bridge, so I'll share a link with you that I hope will give you some comfort: http://www.indigo.org/rainbowbridge_ver2.html. I know your religious beliefs aren't the same as mine, and this tribute might not affect you as it does me, but it is just that - a wonderful, loving tribute to our furry friends that leave us all to soon......I know my Daisy, Rosie, Maggie and Kelly welcomed Wally with open arms when they met him 'At The Bridge'....
Your cousin in Texas,
Janet
Jackie, Kim and Lincoln (the cat!)
Hi, Morris,
ReplyDeleteI'm so very sorry to hear about Wally. From the way you talked about him, I know he was dearly loved and very lucky to have such a loving home where he was one of the family. I think he led a very good life. My cat of 18 years had to be put to sleep many years ago, and I still miss her. Our family pets are very precious to us, aren't they?
You and Carolyn are in my thoughts.
Lori, in Florida
Dear Texas Cousin, Yes, indeed, we know of your beloved Bassets and of your work to rescue and shelter them!
ReplyDeleteI've been so "sheltered" myself, I guess, that I hadn't heard of "the Rainbow Bridge" until I saw what was written on the velvet bag from the vet containing the box of Wally's ashes: "Until We Meet Again At The Rainbow Bridge." That's a lovely fantasy, of course, bringing comfort to the many who believe it.
I tried to watch the program at the website whose link you provided, but I couldn't watch much of it. (Nor could I watch all of a memorial program that another dog owner prepared for his beloved lost pet.)
Somehow, such sentimentality offends my sense of reality. I prefer the sad, sober sense of Wally's final loss, prefer the tragic sense of the one-time-ness of life and the finality of death to the magically optimistic comedy of eternal return. I do not want to use a religious device to try to soften the sense of loss.
Nor do I need to fantasize a rainbow bridge in order to remember Wally often and in many ways, including when we occasionally call our new pup by Wally's name.
Nevertheless, thank you again for your kind remembrance and the additional information about the Rainbow Bridge.
Thank you, Lori, for letting us abide in your thoughts! You are often in my own.
ReplyDeleteSent to me privately by my Texas Cousin:
ReplyDelete"There is one best place to bury a dog. If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call—come to you over the grim, dim frontier of death, and down the well-remembered path, and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel, they shall not growl at him, nor resent his coming, for he belongs there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who may never really have had a dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth the knowing. The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master."
—Ben Hur Lampman