I lost a good friend to cancer. He was my sister’s long time boyfriend and tge father of her child. We had done martial arts together for years before his diagnosis.
One of our martial arts instructors was later diagnosed with leukaemia, and died a year later.
When I was 19, I had a 5 year old cousin get diagnosed with leukaemia. I remember the night he died. I went to get his younger brother and sister to keep them at my apartment for the night so they didn’t have to see him die. When I got there, his mom was crying and holding him in jer arms. My uncle sat next to her stoic with his arm around her. His tiny body was swollen from his kidneys failing and both of his eyes had deep black bruises around them. His breathing was so ragged and labored. I hugged him and his mom, and let my younger cousins to my car. My mom came over later that night to deliver the news. She held his sister, I hled his brother, and we all sat and cried.
I bought a chinchilla in 2007 with my first wife. She lost interest in him after 6 months or so, but he was my little buddy. He saw me through that divorce, several moves, getting my geology degree, meeting my current wife, and having my son. He was 9 years old when my son was born. We were a tiny, happy family until I noticed that he was starting to lose weight and there wasn’t as much pee in the corner of his cage. We took him to the vet to confirm my suspicion - his kidneys were failing. Over the next few months he went from a healthy 600g down to just 200g. He was so wobbly and missing easy jumps in his cage that we had to restrict him to a single level. My little fuzzy buddy lived 15 years. I took a few days off work and had him cremated. He now has a little table of honor with the remains of my 2nd chinchilla.
I won’t equate the death of humans with pets, BUT pets live WITH us. You see them everyday. They make you happy. They live in the moment with zero anxiety about later today, tomorrow, or next week. Over the years I have had 2 dogs. And when they died I was more crushed than the death of any human including my parents. When you live with a pet or a human (spouse) and they die you are reminded everyday that they are no longer there and will never return.
I lost a good friend to cancer. He was my sister’s long time boyfriend and tge father of her child. We had done martial arts together for years before his diagnosis.
One of our martial arts instructors was later diagnosed with leukaemia, and died a year later.
When I was 19, I had a 5 year old cousin get diagnosed with leukaemia. I remember the night he died. I went to get his younger brother and sister to keep them at my apartment for the night so they didn’t have to see him die. When I got there, his mom was crying and holding him in jer arms. My uncle sat next to her stoic with his arm around her. His tiny body was swollen from his kidneys failing and both of his eyes had deep black bruises around them. His breathing was so ragged and labored. I hugged him and his mom, and let my younger cousins to my car. My mom came over later that night to deliver the news. She held his sister, I hled his brother, and we all sat and cried.
I bought a chinchilla in 2007 with my first wife. She lost interest in him after 6 months or so, but he was my little buddy. He saw me through that divorce, several moves, getting my geology degree, meeting my current wife, and having my son. He was 9 years old when my son was born. We were a tiny, happy family until I noticed that he was starting to lose weight and there wasn’t as much pee in the corner of his cage. We took him to the vet to confirm my suspicion - his kidneys were failing. Over the next few months he went from a healthy 600g down to just 200g. He was so wobbly and missing easy jumps in his cage that we had to restrict him to a single level. My little fuzzy buddy lived 15 years. I took a few days off work and had him cremated. He now has a little table of honor with the remains of my 2nd chinchilla.
I won’t equate the death of humans with pets, BUT pets live WITH us. You see them everyday. They make you happy. They live in the moment with zero anxiety about later today, tomorrow, or next week. Over the years I have had 2 dogs. And when they died I was more crushed than the death of any human including my parents. When you live with a pet or a human (spouse) and they die you are reminded everyday that they are no longer there and will never return.