Life is beautiful
Aug 01, 2016Oh my goodness, what a weekend! We’d just got back from picking up Susan’s new bicycle (yes, we’re on a new health kick!) with about 30 minutes to spare before I needed to join the Get Good First Speakers Club live call.
‘There’s something wrong with Jake!’ Suzanne, our nanny said, as we walked through the front door.
‘What do you mean?’ Susan said. I grabbed my briefcase and went over to the barn (my office).
When I came back in the house 5 minutes later, Susan was on the phone ‘Ok, I’m bringing him in now!’
Jake and Amber are our dogs. Brother and sister Rhodesian Ridge Backs, we’ve had them since they were 8 weeks old and now at ten and a half, they are knocking on a bit, Jake much more so than Amber.
By the time I finished my call, I rushed back into the house to see what the latest news was, I must say I feared the worst.
‘They think it’s his liver.’ Susan said. ‘We’ve got some pills to give him, and we’ve got to monitor him closely, nice quiet environment, lots of rest.’
So Saturday night we all sat quietly on the kitchen floor with Jake - Susan, me and all four kids. I must say, they did a remarkable job of being calm – normally the only time there is ever any quiet in our house is during desert! But they sensed the gravity of the moment and seemed to intuitively tune in.
‘His head is very heavy now.’ Susan said, with tears welling up in her eyes. Jake had his head on her lap and he was struggling to breathe. We watched his chest moving up and down twice to every one of Amber's.
Every breath I thought it could well be his last. Then he sat up a little on his front legs and coughed pathetically several times before laying back down again.
Amelie was six months old when we got the dogs, and all the other three children were born afterwards, so all their lives, all they’ve known is Jake and Amber. They’ve all been in and out the dog’s bed since they could first crawl, eating the dog food, scooping with their cups in their drinking water :)
As we all sat there, it was a very sad but also a beautiful experience. I had an intense feeling of gratefulness that Jake had spent his life, I hoped happily, with our family.
When the kids went to bed, they all said good night to Jakey in a goodbye kind of way. But I think only Amelie really understood how poorly he was.
We included Jake in our special prayers that night.
When I came down the next morning at about 5:30am, Jake was laying on his bed and he opened his eyes and glanced up at me. That’s a good sign I thought. His breathing had slowed considerably and he wasn’t shaking uncontrollably anymore. He looked a little bit better.
Throughout Sunday he continued to improve slightly.
As I look over at him now, Monday morning, asleep on the kitchen floor, I am so grateful to Jake and to his sister Amber, for the unconditional love, the joy and the companionship they have brought to our family.
I think it is a really healthy experience, for everyone, but particularly for children, to understand through lived example, that life is precious and life is short. It can be taken away at any moment. We are all born and, if we are lucky, old age, suffering and death awaits us all!
I think caring for a pet is a great way for children to learn to think about something other than themselves; but it’s also an essential early exposure to the circle of life.
I’m not sure there is any other way to really understand life and death really, is there?
It looks like Jake is on the mend, but he’s frail. At some point the children will need to come to terms with the loss of Jake and Amber.
Loving and losing a pet is a painful experience, for anyone but particularly for children. But life is a lifelong journey of learning isn’t it? And experience is the best teacher. The joys and the sorrows, the highs and the lows, the crunchy and the smooth.
That’s life. And it’s beautiful.
‘There’s something wrong with Jake!’ Suzanne, our nanny said, as we walked through the front door.
‘What do you mean?’ Susan said. I grabbed my briefcase and went over to the barn (my office).
When I came back in the house 5 minutes later, Susan was on the phone ‘Ok, I’m bringing him in now!’
Jake and Amber are our dogs. Brother and sister Rhodesian Ridge Backs, we’ve had them since they were 8 weeks old and now at ten and a half, they are knocking on a bit, Jake much more so than Amber.
By the time I finished my call, I rushed back into the house to see what the latest news was, I must say I feared the worst.
‘They think it’s his liver.’ Susan said. ‘We’ve got some pills to give him, and we’ve got to monitor him closely, nice quiet environment, lots of rest.’
So Saturday night we all sat quietly on the kitchen floor with Jake - Susan, me and all four kids. I must say, they did a remarkable job of being calm – normally the only time there is ever any quiet in our house is during desert! But they sensed the gravity of the moment and seemed to intuitively tune in.
‘His head is very heavy now.’ Susan said, with tears welling up in her eyes. Jake had his head on her lap and he was struggling to breathe. We watched his chest moving up and down twice to every one of Amber's.
Every breath I thought it could well be his last. Then he sat up a little on his front legs and coughed pathetically several times before laying back down again.
Amelie was six months old when we got the dogs, and all the other three children were born afterwards, so all their lives, all they’ve known is Jake and Amber. They’ve all been in and out the dog’s bed since they could first crawl, eating the dog food, scooping with their cups in their drinking water :)
As we all sat there, it was a very sad but also a beautiful experience. I had an intense feeling of gratefulness that Jake had spent his life, I hoped happily, with our family.
When the kids went to bed, they all said good night to Jakey in a goodbye kind of way. But I think only Amelie really understood how poorly he was.
We included Jake in our special prayers that night.
When I came down the next morning at about 5:30am, Jake was laying on his bed and he opened his eyes and glanced up at me. That’s a good sign I thought. His breathing had slowed considerably and he wasn’t shaking uncontrollably anymore. He looked a little bit better.
Throughout Sunday he continued to improve slightly.
As I look over at him now, Monday morning, asleep on the kitchen floor, I am so grateful to Jake and to his sister Amber, for the unconditional love, the joy and the companionship they have brought to our family.
I think it is a really healthy experience, for everyone, but particularly for children, to understand through lived example, that life is precious and life is short. It can be taken away at any moment. We are all born and, if we are lucky, old age, suffering and death awaits us all!
I think caring for a pet is a great way for children to learn to think about something other than themselves; but it’s also an essential early exposure to the circle of life.
I’m not sure there is any other way to really understand life and death really, is there?
It looks like Jake is on the mend, but he’s frail. At some point the children will need to come to terms with the loss of Jake and Amber.
Loving and losing a pet is a painful experience, for anyone but particularly for children. But life is a lifelong journey of learning isn’t it? And experience is the best teacher. The joys and the sorrows, the highs and the lows, the crunchy and the smooth.
That’s life. And it’s beautiful.
Until next time ..
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