When it comes to animals it’s practically impossible to have one without the other.
Today’s post was inspired by a comment left on yesterday’s post The most beautiful bond of all by MargfromTassie. This is what she wrote (my emphasis):
Yes, these people are inspirational as are all the people who voluntarily give their time and efforts to animal welfare work, sometimes for years. For many, it can be emotionally traumatising as well as rewarding.
It didn’t take me long to agree that for most it will be emotionally traumatising. In fact, one of the great lessons that we learn from our dogs, and all the other animals that we love, is that unconditional love brings with it emotional trauma.
So much better expressed by Suzanne Clothier in her book Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs
There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings or walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible. Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given.
Our grief is always an insufficient measure of the joy we receive!
Speaking of joy, when we pulled back the bedroom curtains this morning (Thursday) the nest was empty!
For the last too many weeks to remember a mother Canadian Goose has been sitting on her nest of eggs with Father Goose staying close. We like to think that the mother returned to this place after having been born here a year ago.
Overnight five young healthy goslings were born! 🙂
May their little lives be full of love with a total absence of trauma!
Learning from Dogs 
It is indeed “a cycle unlike any other”. It is now 7 months after the loss of our girl yet the trauma is as fresh as a day long…
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Marina, I wish we could reach out to you beyond expressing words of understanding. Hopefully, sensing your pain is sharing it as well.
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It’s good to be reminded, Paul, that grief is such a small part of the greater picture of living with animal companions. Oh, but when it comes … We need to see our last old boy into the next world and get a young dog, so we hopefully don’t have to face it again for awhile (sniffle). ❤
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No question that loving a new doggie member to the family is the only way to cope with a heartbreaking loss. I hav a chapter in my book about learning of death from our dogs.
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