Skip to main content

Athena Heart of Gold

She was deep in a heavily sedated sleep.  She hadn’t slept so deeply in months or even what seemed like ages.  However long, it was now warmly relaxing – an enormous relief.  Then, in the sedated but exhausted sleep, her breathing accelerated as her lungs valiantly pumped harder and deeper attempting to oxygenate and press onward a heart that was being stopped by the paralyzing agent flowing in her veins from the prick of the vet’s needle.


One moment there was breath and life; the next instant all was still.  All was quiet.  She was released.  She was no longer burdened with a body that refused to allow her youthful spirit to thrive.

She brought unconditional acceptance, undying loyalty, and unquestioning forgiveness.  She brought joy.  Her eyes were always full of youthful joy.  Even when youth fled and the body betrayed her, she continued to look out on the world with eager eyes of youth.  In her mind’s-eye she never aged.  She always saw life with the eager, whimsical and inquisitive eyes of youth.  It wasn’t until the last few weeks that the eyes began to dim and show the effects of the lingering pain.

All is quiet, very still.  As new consciousness emerges, awareness begins to take shape.  Her human was wretched with a bottomless torrent of tears.  Yet, she was at peace.  Surly, her human didn’t understand.  Of course not, he had not passed over and remained confined.   

She on the other hand was free and at peace.  Free to explore.  Free to follow each intriguing scent to its origin.  Free once again to run on stumpy legs with ears flopping and tail circling like a propeller, all in an unabashed display of the delightful pleasure of being.  She was now free to bark for its pure pleasure.  Free to chase to her heart’s content, the trespassing squirrels and interloping birds.  Forever free, yes free – free to be.

If we own pets, we are going to have to deal with end of life issues. Those of us, who have formed a relationship with an understanding vet well in advance of the inevitable, are most fortunate.  I give my greatest appreciation and gratitude to Dr. Mary Coker of Smoky Mountain Mobile Veterinary Services whose understanding presence was invaluable at the time I needed her most. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I have the good fortune of having at least a few moments almost every day for mindfulness with horses.  At times it is just a few moments of intentional mindfulness while they finish their feed or it is moments of mindful task oriented intention while tending to hoof care or simply grooming.  Other times the mindfulness is reserved for periods of intentional meditation.  All of these times bring meaning in their own way. There are others times when I have the fortune to share these mindfulness experiences, not just with horses, but also with fellow human beings.  Each of these mindfulness moments bring their own variances colored by the personal histories and presence of the participants.  The horses bring an intuitive understanding of each individual present and their responses to the situation offer to enlighten our human understanding. The language of the horse is subtle and often silent but when we are attune, it is always enlightening.  Hor...
Post a Comment
Read more

If it seems dangerous, remove yourself and re-eval from a distance

If it seems dangerous remove yourself and re-evaluate the situation from a safe distance. The horse is a prey animal – in many respects, a somewhat frail prey animal.  Nevertheless, the species has survived when other seemingly more formidable mammals such as the mastodon became extinct.  The wisdom of the equine can teach us about financial survival.  The horse has an amazing capacity to detect and to respond to threats.  They basically have two options when confronted with danger.   For the horse it is either fight or flight.  Their preferred method is flight. Nature has equipped the horse with a very well developed detection device system.  With access to either bi or mono vision, the horse can see almost 365 degrees without moving her head.  Her ears are amazingly flexible and can be maneuvered in an instant to capture the minutest sound waves coming from just about any direction.  Horses also have an incredibly well developed olfactory sense.  Often people think that when a hor...
Post a Comment
Read more

He Was My Friend

He was known as Ranger and a more fitting name there never has been.   Unencumbered he ranged throughout the neighborhood but every night he came to me for shelter, and everyday he came for safety, but most of all I think he came for love. It was months after he fi rst started showing up at my place before he ever allowed the first tentative touch.   He came and observed and found shelter in the barn.   Any attempt though to connect other than just by being present and he would bolt.   I began by making a big to do of touching and petting Max, my dog, anytime Ranger was watching.   I made sure that he knew that it was pleasing to Max.   As the weeks past he began to reduce the physical distance and his personal safety zone began to diminish.   He felt safest when he could approach from behind so when he approached, I never turned to face him.   I always let him define his safety zone.   Then one day there was contact.   T...
Post a Comment
Read more