Grief and Joy and a Final Gift

As many of you know, our beloved Bailey, the Rescuepoo, the Boo of Boos, The Little Smackeral, left us on the morning of February 9, 2023. His passing wasn’t exactly unexpected, but we didn’t expect it at that moment. We had arranged with our vet, the wonder Kim Weisner at Caring Hearts Animal Hospital, to…

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On Being Dumbfounded In The Face Of Life

Dark path of grief

Today I received the following comment on the blog I wrote about choosing “Interbeing” as my word for the year. I was so touched by it that I found myself writing a long response that’s turned into its own blog entry. Anne M., I am grateful to you. Anne wrote: Thank you for this lovely…

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Grief, It’s a Journey

Sixteen years ago I was standing, naked (as one does) save for a paper dressing gown, in my dermatologist’s office. She was telling me how she had just put her beloved dog to sleep, after thirteen years together, which was a pretty good lifespan for a dog of his size. “How the hell can you…

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Dogs and Heaven and Alice McDermott

In her wonderful book about writing, What About the Baby? Alice McDermott tells us a story she read in an Irish magazine about a man who finds himself walking along a road with his childhood dog. The man realizes he’s dead, because of how long the dog’s been dead. How glad he is to see his…

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To Go Gently, Or Not? Thoughts on Impermanence

I have a dear friend, Mark, who may be one of the most compassionate, kind, and intelligent people I know. He is also very tall and absurdly handsome. (How he will guffaw if he reads that last bit!)  He tells many interesting stories, and this is one of them: Once, back when he was a…

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My Dog Is Dying (Part II)

A NOTE TO READERS….. The title of this blog says almost everything. I will add a few things, though. This time is EXCRUCIATING. So much so that I will not be answering phone calls for the foreseeable future. Answering emails will be touch and go… and forgive me if you comment on this series of…

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My Dog Is Dying (Part I)

A NOTE TO READERS….. The title of this blog says almost everything. I will add a few things, though. This time is EXCRUCIATING. So much so that I will not be answering phone calls for the foreseeable future. Answering emails will be touch and go… and forgive me if you comment on this series of…

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Even So…#8

Day ? of the pandemic. The storms roll in, tornado warnings and flooding, devastation for so many in the south, although you’d think plagues would be enough, and everyone pitches in to help, even so. And when the storms rolled out, the sun returned, the grass was crystal-speckled and the air smelled of grass and…

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Rescued by a Rescue Dog

All right, I’ll just come right out and say it — I’ve become one of those annoying people who, if encouraged in even the smallest way, spend a good part of any conversation talking about my dog.  If you read my recent post, “The Liberating Poetics of Low Expectations,” this probably comes as no surprise. …

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