Grieving the Cat: What I Did to Process Releasing this Great Love
One thing I realized is that every time I lose one pet it’s like the grief for all the others becomes sharper. I don’t think we ever “get over” a loss that hurts deep. I think we get used to livinig life along with it and our joy practice gets bigger. Which means, since grief is like a spiral, we return to it at different places. My house felt so empty with no pets and that was a stark, lonely experience I had to be with.
The Profound Grieving of my Feline Overlord
90% of deaths have some foresight, but our culture does a terrible job honoring death and preparing us for the inevitable changes in our lives. I knew from having experienced the deaths of dozens of loved ones, the grief process was inevitable, inescapable, and perhaps this one would be the most profound change of my life–no pets in my home for the first time in my adulthood.
Creating a Kid’s Area for a Memorial or other Gathering
It can be so hard to know how to deal with death and kids in a society that is pathologically afraid of genuine feelings, especially the sad and hard feelings. But the basics are–let’s teach kids how to feel bravely so they can grow up and not have to reparent themselves like the rest of us have had to.
Sweet Moments in Grief
I want the people in my life to thrive in my love. I want to thrive. So I’ve developed a bunch of grieving skills to help with that.