Last week Danita and I lost our best buddy, Sancho.

I wrote about it in last week’s post (Vale Sancho).

Since then we have been going through a period of intense mourning, but it has eased.

At first I was crying constantly until by the end of the week I was able to think about him and talk about him without tearing up.

As the pain has eased I’ve begun to see that there are upsides to his going as well as downsides.

Downside
The downsides are pretty obvious:
– He’s not around anymore.
– There’s no one to welcome us home whenever we go out.
– He’s not there to cuddle up to when watching TV or just needing a bit of unconditional love.
– He was a great calming influence in our household. Danita pointed out that she always knew when she had been a bit too intense in venting her anger – Sancho would slink off and hide somewhere until he figured it was safe to come out.
– There’s no-one to clean up the bits of food that get dropped on the floor – we do believe he actually had the ability to will things off the counter.
– He used to spend most of his day sleeping right next to my office chair. This meant that I had to check where he was every time I moved – something I’m still doing.
– At some point he had conned us into letting him sleep on our bed – a habit we just couldn’t break. This meant I had him curled up against my back throughout the night. It usually menat that even though he was the smallest member of the household he took up the bulk of the bed space – a real achievement in a king sized bed.
– There’s no longer the pitter-patter of little feet or the tinkle of his dog tags or the flapping of the dog door as he went in or out to the back yard.
– As we moved around a lot he spent time with lots of other people and different animals. It was a delight and joy to see how well he got on with everyone and everything.

So, for these and more there are clearly lots of reasons to miss him and I do.

Upsides
However, there are some upsides to this last week:
– The support, encouragement and caring that we have experienced from other people has been a big surprise. I mentioned in last week’s post that one of our neighbours had left flowers on his grave. Another neighbour, who does mosaic work made a little stone for him – see photo.
– We now have all our bed back.
– As empty-nesters Danita and I can make plans for trips and times away without having to arrange carers or house-sitters.
– He did make it to spend some time with us in OUR home and he’s buried in the front yard in what will become o little grove of fruit trees.
– When we go for a walk we don’t have to stop at every tree and telegraph pole so we are now able to explore the area we’re living in at a pace more suited to us.
– We don’t need to do pooh patrols in the back yard or be very careful about where we step.
– There had been a plan in progress to fence off the front yard and put a gate in. This would have been challenging and annoying to keep having to open and close when driving in or out. Now, that project has been taken off the to-do list.

So, all-in-all there are a couple of good points in our new family structure but, if we had a choice we’d have him back.

The Rainbow Bridge
A couple of people sent us the little poem called the Rainbow Bridge – we’re looking forward to meeting up with him again in the very distant future.

If you haven’t seen this before – here it is (with a special warning – keep a box of tissues close by).

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

Author unknown…