Grief freezes the heart, and pets thaw it | PetConnection.com

Greetings, dear readers. I?ve missed you. I?ve missed writing. I?ve missed our interactions.
May 15th was the one year anniversary of my mother?s death. In the weeks leading up to that date a cloud of gloom descended over my world. I was suddenly moving under water, slow motion, akin to when the ?6 Million Dollar Man? would kick into bionic body-part mode.
Intellectually, I knew to expect grief bursts to increase in frequency and ferocity as her death date approached. But knowing something in the brain doesn?t really prepare the heart for the experience. I could feel this hard something growing right in the middle of my chest. I couldn?t relax. I couldn?t breathe deep, chest-expanding, lung-filling breaths. I couldn?t concentrate. I had some really not so nice moments. I lost touch with my always threadbare patience. And (probably the hardest for me during that time) I couldn?t write a single creative word.
For me, writing is truly an integration of head and heart. The inspiration enters through the heart, and the head (with my years of didactic training including my English degree) filters and refines those creative impulses. Writing is an outlet, a way to educate, and an instrument through which to help pets and the people who love them.
My heart was frozen by my grief.
Mind you, I couldn?t even articulate this frozen heart conundrum in the moment. I just knew I wasn?t right and that I had this crazy lump in my chest.
But my pets knew?our beautiful Golden Retriever, Farrah, went out of her way to sit right beside me on the sofa (she rarely gets up on the sofa with a human).
Tommy, our mischievous Cavelier King Charles Spaniel took it upon himself to ensure that my lap was never empty. Columbo, the one-eyed Ocicat, made it his job to ?make bread? on my back as I fell asleep each night, purring so loudly that I didn?t need the white-noise machine.

Opus, our genetically deaf Aussie/Corgi snuggled even closer to me throughout the night. And Payton, our sleek Great Dane, made sure to encourage walks every day.
Their combined efforts paid off! They really did thaw my grief-frozen heart. The hard lump in my chest is gone. And only from today?s
perspective do I understand and appreciate the magnitude of what they have done for me.
T.S. Eliot said,
?Animals are such agreeable friends ? - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.?
Ain?t that the truth!
P.S. One of my favorite books on this very topic is our own Dr. Marty Becker?s book, ?The Healing Power of Pets.?
Photo credit: Dr. Robin Downing
Source: http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2011/05/20/grief-freezes-the-heart-and-pets-thaw-it/
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