01/06/2026
I’ve been thinking about Blue today. For no particular reason. Those are usually the days he shows up the loudest.
The grief of sudden, tragic loss of a pet can stay with you for years, maybe even a lifetime. What changes over time is how it lives in your body. You learn how to walk with it. You start to recognize certain feelings as they come up. Feelings that used to stop you in your tracks. Now you notice them, acknowledge them, and keep moving. The pain isn’t gone. It’s just familiar.
Losing a heart dog is the end of an era. When the loss is traumatic, it can genuinely feel like the world ends. The ground drops out. The future rewrites itself overnight. And yet, somehow, we are more resilient than we give ourselves credit for.
This photo is Blue on just his second day with me. Lying in his favourite spot by the window, watching the squirrels. I watched him do this countless times over the years.
I would give anything to see him do it again. There was a time when photos like this hurt too much to look at. Now they comfort me. I think about how safe he was, how much joy and comfort he brought to others as a Therapy dog, and how happy a life we had together.
Grief changes. Love doesn’t disappear. It just becomes something you carry instead of something that knocks you down.
If you’ve lost a pet and need someone to share a memory with, I’m always here to listen. Or feel free to share a memory in the comments to make someone else’s day a little brighter; someone else who’s lost their soulmate may be comforted to see that they’re not alone.
