[Gpdd] RAINBOW BRIDGE: A Dean Koontz quote on grief:

[GARY HESS]

I just read this famous author's tribute to his golden retriever, Trixie. From his book, A BIG LITTLE LIFE (which I wholeheartedly reccoment):
"On the human-dog bond and on the reason why we give our hearts to them knowing what is to come, a character in my novel, THE DARKEST EVENING OF THE YEAR, says this:
 
' Dogs' lives are too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you're going to lose a dog, and there's going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can't support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware it comes with an unbearable price. Maybe loving dogs is a way we do penance for all the other illusions we allow ourselves and for the mistakes we make because of those illusions.'"
 
These musings do not lessen our grief, but recognize the universality and inevitability of loss. May we all have the courage to love anyway.
 
Joanie