May 6, 2011 was the day that I drove to Danbury, Connecticut with butterflies in my stomach and a gleam in my eyes.
As it’s entered into my computer calendar, “Gerry Came to Me”
I’d say I can’t believe it’s been nine years, but I can.
As with everyone reading and entering posts on to this blessing of a web site, life has moved on, even when many of us felt like our feet were stuck in cement and we’d never be set free from this frozen state.
We do.
It will take a while, and all of our experiences will be difficult and different. You WILL eventually move. Whether you notice or not…want to or not, You will.
One day you will discover that you are back in your car, feeling those familiar butterflies and seeing the world with new eyes. If your Higher Power intends it, you will be blessed once more with a new experience of a new creature entering your life. You will feel a tiny victory, entering again the new name of a new friend and date. On an anniversary of sadness you will take deep breaths, and refocus yourself on the NOW. You will smile silently to yourself that you have walked down the path far enough to be blessed with a new beginning. You will acknowledge that love has come again.
What a sweet picture! Somehow I seem to have missed several of your posts so I needed to get caught up. Your words ring true, and it is not always easy to live in the ‘now’ like our beautiful furbabies do. Yet, when we lose a loved one I do believe they take a piece of our heart with them, and the love that has filled our hearts makes space so that we can love again.
Love that pic of you and Gerry, the love just radiates from the photo. And beautiful Boo…. she looks so content and happy.
The world is messed up right now, but our furbabies help to keep us grounded. I hope you and yours are doing well and staying healthy and safe.
Sending big virtual hugs,
Jackie and Huck
I haven’t posted in quite some time, to be honest. Time, life, etc..Plus coming to this site is bittersweet. What once was therapeutic and unbelievably helpful, became a place that healed…but also kept me stuck in my sorrow. Now that life has changed, I wanted to add an update, as well as honor the anniversary of Gerry’s arrival in my life. I’m grateful that I recorded the date in the calendar that reoccurs annually, but for what ever reason, it made me a bit melancholy this year. I know that I never posted that photograph while I was more actively writing, and was half glad, as it marked the anniversary perfectly. I have another shot from the week before when I met him at his Meet and Greet, but was happy to rediscover the one his foster mom took of us in the parking lot of Applebees. She’d only had him for a week….he was Just that special!
Boo is a pip! She is such a three year old, with energy I can’t always keep up with, but am grateful for regardless. I’ll miss it one day when she’s older, and so I put the book down, or close the lap top and engage with her. I’m training her to stay out on the front stoop when it’s sunny, by keeping her on two attached leashes, and putting up a few boundary marks where the leash will get tight. Since she’s blind (born with detached retinas) it’s a been a whole different learning experience with her. I “knew” (hoped) that if I could handle the ups and downs of bone cancer, I could certainly take on a blind pup. I got lucky…..I got blessed! Thanks for reaching out. ~Danielle
Oh Danielle, thank you so much for visiting and sharing such great wisdom. Your way with words is badly needed for people who are just now in mourning after losing their beautiful Tripawd. You share so much insight, I know they will find it helpful.
We totally get what you mean by how it feels to return to Tripawds when you are grieving. That is a totally normal feeling, and it takes a lot of patience and self-love to allow yourself to feel that grief for however long it sits in your heart, while knowing that it’s healthiest to accept and put one foot in front of the other, so that you can open your heart again someday to another critter who needs you. Boo was absolutely that critter who was ready for you at just the right time. Gerry sure knew what he was doing when he brought you together.
Thank you for sharing the hope and the love, and Boo’s beautiful picture. We all need it now more than ever.