Until We Meet Again

For all my furry friends I have lost: I love you and miss you all. A client shared this with me, and I thought it was beautiful enough to share with anyone who reads this blog.



So far this year, I have lost my friends: Jitter and Sketch, Rocky, Brownie, Rigger, Lester and One Spot.





Till We Meet Again
by Terri Onorato


I know what you're thinking. You think I'm dead. Because you cannot
see me with your human eyes, cannot feel me with your hands or hold
me in your arms, you think I am gone forever. You recall how I looked
when I left this earth and you cannot remotely imagine that I am
alive in another place. You are racked and torn by the pain of our
separation and it blinds you to that which is right in front of you...me.

How many times since I left your immediate sight have you been told
that I'm dead and you should "get over it"? How many times have you
cried yourself to sleep because you feel like an outcast, believing
you're supposed to get over me because that's what people say is
normal but somehow you can't and no one seems to understand? How many
times have you put yourself through such excruciating pain because
you aren't willing to consider that I am not, by any means, dead?

I want you to do me a favor and go back in time with me. Remember the
glorious day you brought me home - was I not the most intriguing
creature you'd ever met? Did I not make you laugh and giggle? Did I
not look at you with such adoration that you wanted nothing more than
to spend the rest of your life with me? I wanted this too.

Remember the days when I was in my prime and we did many things
together. You were so proud of me! I was a good friend and I took
care of you when you cried, were angry or felt down and unhappy. When
you didn't have a lot of time for me because of your obligations, I
waited patiently for you. I was always there when you needed me. Did
I not look at you with such acceptance and patience that perhaps at
times you felt a bit unworthy? You were never unworthy in my eyes.

Remember when age crept up on me, my bones became stiff and my
movements slower. Still I met you when you came home and followed you
around. We'd been together for so long, I was your very best friend
regardless of what you were doing, saying and thinking Did I not
look at you with such kindness and understanding that you felt
overwhelmed? I couldn't get enough of you.

Remember the last time we saw each other with earthly eyes. You tried
to be brave but I knew you were crying...I know you so well, better
than anyone else in the world. Did I not look at you with such pure
trust and love that you yearned only to hold me close and keep me
with you always? Did you not promise that you would love me forever?
I believed you.

If this is so then why have you let me go by thinking I no longer exist?

Remember the depth of love in my eyes when I looked at you. Who
created this love? Would the Creator diminish the song of our
laughter that grew and flourished in this love? I am no longer an
earthly figure, this is true. My body was only part of who I really
am and it would have been but a mere shell on earth if it were not
filled to overflowing with my soul, my spirit and my loving light.
When we met you thought I was cute, pretty and adorable. What kind of
relationship would we have had if this were all that I'd been? How
could you have loved me if I'd had no spiritual substance?

We are all made up of energy that resides far deep down inside of us,
it is our core and our soul, spirit and loving light. It is the
energy that is all of life...it has no beginning, it has no end. It
simply is and always will be and without it there is no life. You
can't see it with the naked eye nor can you hold it in your hand, it
is simply a certain knowing that this energy does exist. It's a
knowing just as you know that our love existed on earth - you
couldn't see our love in a solid sense, you couldn't gather it all up
and confine it to one place. But you *knew* it existed. There was no
doubt in your mind.

There are those who demand you get over me, insisting that I'm dead
and you'll never see me again because animals don't go to Heaven. Oh
really? I'm here to tell you different. You were as worthy of my love
and undying devotion on earth as I was of yours. Do you really
believe this love would be snatched from us *forever* by a loving
Creator simply because I wasn't human? Was I not a living, breathing
creation with personality? How could I have been so if I didn't
possess the energy of soul, spirit and loving light? And if this
energy is and always will be, then how can it be that I am dead? If
my core is not the energy that is all of life then I was never alive
to begin with. But you know better.

You cry because you miss me, this I understand. I miss you too - I
miss the belly rubs, hugs and kisses that we shared. But life does go
on beyond these wonderful, fulfilling physical connections. I came to
this place to continue on in a new life, not because I didn't love
you anymore or because I wanted something better. I came here because
it was time for me to go to the next phase of my existence, something
all living creatures must do eventually. It is the normal progression
of life. I was not taken away from you because you cannot take away
that which was never owned. My presence in your life was and is a
gift to be cherished and honored just as I cherish and honor you.

Life is not simply about being born into a body, living a certain
number of years and then dying. Energy cannot die. We are blessed
with time in a body so that we can learn, share and grow. It prepares
us for the next phase of our eternal life. The body holds within it
the true life force of our existence... our soul, spirit and loving
light. Without these our bodies would be empty, blank, void of
feeling and expression. Without our energy we would indeed be dead
and could never have experienced our love for each other.

You say that all you have left are memories but this is not so. You
see, when I took leave of my earthly body I left a little something
behind for you. You can't touch it, hold it or examine it, for what I
left behind is far too uninhibited for confinement. I left in your
tender care a piece of my soul. I placed it right next to your own
which is quite fitting as we were always side by side in our earthly
life together. I love you too much to have left you with nothing but
memories that tend to fade and grow cloudy as the years go by. I love
you too much to have vanished without a trace. How selfish it would
be of me to remove love and light from your life.

I understand your tears, each one you shed is testament to your love
for me and I am honored and humbled. But don't forget the good things
we shared - remember and smile. This is an honor for me as well. When
you need me I will be here. Close your eyes, relax, take slow, deep
breaths and picture me in your mind. Shut off the world and your
notions of what you think death is and give me a chance. Look for the
subtle signs I send you. Don't stop being proud of me, I am a friend
to be proud of, I am still your friend and soul mate. Don't
memorialize the death of my body but instead honor and celebrate my
never-ending life for it is eternal and forever as is my love for you.

Until we meet again...