Going Gentle...

Into that good night.

A friend said goodbye to her dog companion of 14 years. It was a tough thing to face but my friend did it with dignity and grace. My own challenge with this and my dogs is hopefully not too soon but not that far off either.

I hate to be so trite as to quote a showtune, but the scene in Les Miz where Cosette sings to ValJean as he is dying, "it's too soon, too soon to say goodbye" is exactly how I feel.

Thomas Jefferson said "It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch." And yet the irony is that we humans are wired to need and love that which death will always take away from us.

It is tempting to believe in an afterlife...but I wonder if that's just a conceit to help us avoid the awful truth of oblivion. "Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen."

So who knows. The only thing I know is my friend is content with her decision and her dog's passing was a peaceful and beautiful ending of a life well lived.