Open Door Healing

It is was binds us together as humans. All of us feel it, experience it, albeit in different ways. This morning I texted our neighbor to ask if we could put our donkey and goat in their front pasture. We’ve been doing this about every 3-4 months for about a year now. We are not close neighbors, in proximity yes, but as far as friends, no. We wave when we pass each other on the street in our cars and sometimes see them outside with their golden retriever, Milly. Last year we had bumped into them at the grocery store and that is how we started the pasture thing. It gives our pasture a break, and helps them cull their weeds. After Sallie answered yes, that it was ok, she also told me they had to put down their old dachshund and how they were grieving. I answered back that I had to put down my 15 year cat, Jasmine, this year also. Turns out, they both died with complications of cancer. I then let her know we had 2 new kittens, Shadow and Sapphire, and she commented how fluffy they were, and I said yes, they were perfect sticker and burr magnets. She understood because her dog does the same, as like when we had our Australian Shepard, Sadie. I really believe that Sadie would go roll in the burrs. She had so many one time that her blanket stuck to her as she was going out the doggie door. A couple of years ago I was in the upper front part of our yard, that I hardly go to, and there was a whole crop of the burr flowers. It was where Sadie would go to the bathroom. I started laughing, even in her passing, she left me gifts! Fortunately, our German Shorthaird Pointer’s coat repels them. It was nice having this little conversation with someone I’ve lived next to for almost 8 years, but never really had a conversation with. And sharing grief. We all feel it. Whether it be for a beloved animal, person or life changing in ways unexpected. Grief holds that space for us that is now empty or different than it was when that person or animal was present physically. And, each grief period takes a varied amount of time for the release of the pain and the filling up that space with their love. We may not be able to touch them physically anymore, but we can always touch the place they made in our hearts. Blessings.

This picture is of the tree Jasmine used to scratch. She left me a heart!