Time Heals All Wounds

I wonder does time heal all wounds or does time just lessen the pain into something tolerable?

This is a personal musing post.

I still miss my dogs, and the recent run in with the neighbour shooting my cat has heightened those feelings of loss. Smudges, the cat, has failed to reappear as yet. I walk back to the old house every night just to see if the little fella has made the trek back there. It is not too far back to the old place, about 700 meters or so.

I think about Chockie, Unyil, and Smudges everyday. It is strange but the dogs in particular had been like children for me. I will soon be a father to a son in a few short months.

The missus has a few photos of the dogs on her mobile and these caused a few tears last night and today.

Perhaps the healing is in the ability to focus on and remember the good times.

A Happy Cat Story...

This story is the reason that I walk back to our old house every night of the week.

This is a story about Dixie. Dixie is a cat who went missing in 1999. Her devoted owners, the Delaney family (I am guessing that the photo is of Dixie and Mrs. Delaney) thought that their beloved pet had been killed, most probably run over.

However, to there great surprise Dixie has returned some nine years later. She is no longer the sprightly 6-year-old that she was when she disappeared. But, by all accounts apart from being a little skinny and disheveled Dixie is doing OK.

Dixie had a microchip inserted so it was as simple as scanning the chip to recover all the necessary information need to track down the owners. The wife and I were planning to get both of our dogs, Chockie and Unyil, microchipped unfortunately they were poisoned before we got the chance to do that. And little Smudges would have had to be microchipped in order to get into Australia.

Strangely enough, Dixie was found only a couple of kilometers from where she disappeared.

If only cats could talk in a language that we can understand. The story would most likely be a best seller.

Still Missing My Dogs

Although the days pass into weeks and the weeks pass into months the sense of loss has not really started to recede. It is hard to lose something that has been such a great and fun part of your life for so many years in a mere heartbeat! Chockie has been gone now since 6 December 2007 and I still think about her everyday! Unyil has been gone since 12 May 2008 and I still think about her everyday too!

I trust they are both keeping each other company in puppy dog heaven and are having the time of their lives, so to speak, and enjoying each other's company once again!

As I was rummaging through boxes to find a paper that I want to publish, I came across these two photos. I asked the better half (a.k.a. "the missus") to scan them and send them to me. The original photos are prints and not digital. I might add I stopped looking for the paper when I re-discovered the photos.

I am sure the better half is doing it at least as tough as I am. We miss our dogs!

Missing My Dogs & Sleep

I have been having trouble sleeping of late and I do not think it has anything to do with increased stress at work (although this probably should be a problem)!

I think that my "problem" is that I am so used to having two dogs sleeping on the bed and for the last six months or so one dog that both the better half and I miss the company! I am also missing going for the nightly walks and the barking when some one comes to the gate or the running round like a headless chicken when the local kids are letting off the fire crackers as they regularly do!

The beauty of pets, and particularly dogs, is that they are great listeners and you can talk to them without fear of being judged or getting an earful of this is what you should or shouldn't do! I am sure that my dogs of past and future will continue to be repositories of my greatest secrets and sounding boards for my stupidity.

If we were not seriously considering going back to Australia at the end of the year we would probably have already bought another dog.

I have never been a big believer in God or all things religious but I would like to think that my dogs, Chockie and Unyil, are together again and enjoying each other's company and looking after each other like they always did.

Tragedy and Loss...

Today is not a good day! One of my dogs, Chockie, died suddenly this morning...Some of you might be inclined to think, "Snap out of it! It was just a dog!", how little do you understand the concept of a dog being a person's best friend! Those of you who have owned a pet and loved it like you love a family member will understand my loss and grief. The loss is raw and it is tragic because it was so sudden but it is also so new. This is probably the best time for me to write.

It is easy to say that she had a good life and the like but when it is all said and done she was but eight years old...that equates to 56 dog years but as far as I am concerned it was still way too early! The Zen Buddhism, fatalistic view of 'shit happens' does not quite fit the bill. I am probably more fatalistic about the life and death of people than I am of my own dog.

Chock had been a part of our family for eight years...it is strange how you recall the first couple of days after we 'found' her as a puppy. There was an intent that she would be an 'outside' dog but persistent crying and barking got her inside and she had been spoiled ever since.

Dogs truly are a person's best friend. They are loyal and they listen no matter what your complaint and they take it all in their stride. They snuggle up when your down and they make you laugh when you are sad. To lose that kind of companionship and friendship is the hardest part, it is the toughest.

Our dogs have been a part of our family and they are our children. If you can imagine the loss of a child then you can imagine the loss that we feel right at this moment.

I am sure over time I will remember the good times and they will overwhelm the grief and sadness that I feel today. The tears that I shed today will one day, I hope, be replaced with smiles as I recall the fun and games that we played, but that day is not today.

Perhaps life goes on but today I just want to be sad and to grieve the loss of a trusted and true friend and family member.

I miss you already Chock...safe journey to that big old puppy dog heaven in the sky!