I picked up my Kurby's ashes today. I was doing some research on pet cremation and came across this beautiful poem I'd like to share. It kinda says it all......

website: http://www.cacsinfo.com/alivinglove.html



A Living Love
by Martin Scot Kosins



If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember....

The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend.
You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of
many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking "stranger" in a shelter -- simply because something in his eyes reached your heart.

But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room -- and when you feel it brush against you for the first time -- it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.

The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other: routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow, deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep when you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet -- and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.

And on this day -- if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own -- on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you, you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night.

If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.

But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul -- a bit smaller in size than your own -- seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.

And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg -- very, very lightly.

And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay -- you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely to be painful, and leave an ache in your heart... As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.

But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when -- along with the memory of your pet -- and piercing through the heaviness in your heart -- there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost.

This realization takes the form of a Living Love. Like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow -- and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live.

It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave -- perhaps to join our Beloved Pets -- it is a Love we will always possess.

Had to post the 2nd half of the pic posted at the end of the above post.....

He loved to feel the wind in his little hair.....

(I, of course, had my hand around his harness to keep a good hold on him!!!!)

Kurbysma

Thank you for that what a darling little guy! I am very new here and just reading here I can see will be my lifeline for some time. Thank you

Tillie

Tillie,

He was my everything! Man how we get attached.....
It's only been 2 wks since he was hit and killed (by a car that didn't even stop!) but I swear I still hear his little name tag clinking against his harness when he walked.....or I hear him barking at night.....
I'm doing better but I know I'm in for a long recovery. And the question is....do we ever really get over this?

I'm sorry for your loss. Your furbabies are precious.....

Tanya
"kurbysma"

My heart breaks for you I cannot imangine why your time together was cut so short but maybe there is a reason I don't know . I understand your heart is shattered please know my thoughts and prayers are with you! I have lost a furbaby before Sheba at 15 and now my Tillie I guess the best way to describe it all is like child birth you forget how much it hurts in time or at least I hope. Take care my friend.

Tillie

I am sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing that with us, it is so beautiful, so true.

Thank you for sharing the poem. It was very nice, and so true. I also am sorry for your loss. I still cry over Jake every day. I miss him so much. Next Wed. will be 3 months, and it feels as if it was just yesterday that I had to make the decision to end his pain. I know he is in heaven, but it still hurts so much. Take care,

Sandi

Sandi,

I know what you're going through as well. We used to raise dobie's when I was growing up and we had 2 female's we lost to cancer. We had to put both down and my parents were in the room with them when it happened. I can remember going thru it as a young child and teenager to this day. It still brings tears to my eyes because they were both such loving dogs......and very protective of me and my brother.
I'm very sorry for your loss as well. I had hoped when Kurby's day came I would be there to hold him in my arms and rub him as he took his last breath. I wanted my face to be the last he saw and know that I was there for him. I cant tell you how much it still hurts me that I arrived home and found him dead. I did hold him for about 20 mins and rubbed his little feet as I sobbed. I know he knows how much I loved him and I'm grateful he went instantly and did not suffer.

Kurbysma,
Thank you for your kind words. Kurby looks so cute! I am so very sorry for the cir%%stances of his passing. I do want to say thank you for helping me to remember that I did do the right thing by being there with Jake until the very end. My thinking was the same as yours--I wanted to be the last person he saw, I wanted him to hear me tell him I loved him until he could no longer hear. I have had my doubts, and my ex-fiance told me that maybe I shouldn't have been there with Jake since I still cry...

The following is a poem that a friend that I met through this site sent to me, and I thought that I would pass it on...

I Remember

I stood by your bed last night, I came to have a peep.
I could see that you were crying. You found it hard to sleep.

I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear,
"It's me, I haven't left you, I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here."

I was close to you at breakfast, I watched you pour the tea,
You were thinking of the many times your hands reached down to me.

I was with you at the shops today. Your arms were getting sore.
I longed to take your parcels, I wish I could do more.

I was with you at my grave today, You tend it with such care.
I want to re-assure you, that I'm not lying there.

I walked with you towards the house, as you fumbled for your key.
I gently put my paw on you, I smiled and said "It's me."

You looked so very tired, and sank into a chair.
I tried so hard to let you know, that I was standing there.

It's possible for me to be so near you everyday.
To say to you with certainty, "I never went away."

You sat there very quietly, then smiled, I think you knew...
in the stillness of that evening, I was very close to you.

The day is over... I smile and watch you yawning
and say "Good-night, God bless, I'll see you in the morning."

And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide,
I'll rush across to greet you and we'll stand, side by side.

I have so many things to show you, there is so much for you to see.
Be patient, live your journey out... then come home to be with me.

Author unknown

Our furkids are still with us...and they will always be in our hearts and memories---

Take care,
Sandi

Sandi,

Thank you so much for sharing that poem. I am sitting here crying as I read it. I have printed it out as well.
I believe in my heart you did the right thing being with your baby until the end. I know when my Kurby was scared, the first thing he did was run to me and get in my lap. He wanted reassurance and he knew I would protect him. I believe if your Jake was scared at the end, and he saw your face and heard your voice, it brought him comfort and helped ease his transition.
I used to tell my Kurby almost daily, "mama loves you bunches and bunches and bunches" in a baby like voice. He would sit with his little head ##ed to the side (like in his pic to the left) and I know in my heart he knew exactly what I was saying. As my 8 year old step daughter has said ..... "Kurby gave the best kisses!"
We all miss him "bunches and bunches and bunches!!!!"

Thanks again so much for the lovely poem.

I have to keep adding different pics of him because he was such a little ham! This pic was taken about a year ago when he was going into the lake after ducks! He thought he was invincible! (and he loved to swim!) I would loved to have seen a duck chase him!!!! He would have took off like a bandit!