Yesterday was a very hard day for the pet blog community, as we lost our beloved Pip. No, Pip didn’t “belong” to me, or to the pet blogging community at large; he had a loving family and furever home. But this adorable little doggie
was “ours” in the sense that he openly shared his life and love with all of us, through his blog. Pip was one of the sweetest, kindest and cutest woofies I’ve ever known.
I never met Pip in person, but I adored him just the same, and the news of his passing unleashed a torrent of tears. Those who question how someone could cry over the death of a pet they’d never met, will never understand the deep bonds that pet bloggers forge with other pet lovers and their pets. It can be every bit as profoundly special as the bonds we have with our own pets. These blogging woofies and meowsters use words to bring them to life. They let us in, let us see every part of their life while sharing their joys, triumphs and sorrows with us. And when they run off to the Rainbow Bridge, the gaping hole in our heart feels much the same as it does when we lose one of our own.
Not a week goes by that we pet bloggers don’t have to say goodbye to another cherished pet. Sometimes there are more than one in a week. It reminds me of the old saying, “Life isn’t fair.” It’s a fact that no human journeys from birth to death unscathed. Tragic things happen. We deal with sorrowful circumstances as best as we can. We soldier on, because we must.
But for pet lovers, life can seem even more unfair because those we love leave us much too soon. I often wonder how it came about that animals have such infinitely shorter lifespans than humans yet they create for us such life-altering emotional experiences. We love them with every fiber of our being, despite knowing that one day, we’ll experience the soul-searing pain of losing them.
Even when we’re lucky and our pet lives to a ripe old age, it’s never long enough. Surely this is one of life’s greatest examples of unfairness, that we humans can have 80 or more good years on the planet, yet our four legged friends rarely have 20. But it speaks to our resilience and emotional capacity that we love them deeply all the same.
I will admit, there are times that I think “I hope I die before Annabelle, because I don’t know how I will ever be able to cope with that loss.” Each week that I say goodbye to yet another treasured woofie or meowster in the blogging community brings fresh pain and fresh fear of that day I know will come. And I’m not ready. I will never be ready to say goodbye to my beloved heart cat, but I
can hold her close today and tell her how much I love her. I don’t know when that last “today” will come, so I have to cherish every precious moment I have with her.
As I say goodbye to the wonderful woofie Pip, I will try not to be sad and dwell on the loss, but be uplifted by the fact that knowing him made my life richer. Yes, Pip has gone too soon…as they all do. We can only love them as much as possible until that final day, and keep them close in our heart forevermore.
