Eddie

While I struggle to write that elusive poem about love, I thought I'd publish another previously written poem of mine, about a creature I loved as much as any other creature I have ever loved.

Eddie

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this morning
you graced my ears with the finest of music
sounds filled that place I knew only music could touch.
I lifted you wrapped and limp from my bed
and purred with you
then,
my tears glistening in your still black fur,
I waited for your rest box
as you grew cold in my arms,
first the pads on your paws then your bone thin legs.
now
I hold you more tightly just to keep you warm
for a tiny bit longer,
listening while I go to that place I thought only music could take me
and with your last smidgeon of warmth cradled in my arms
I sway to the beat

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I sometimes wonder why I have pets at all, or love anyone at all, because the loss of them is so terrible. Why do we not go into a dark place forever when someone or something that we love is lost?

For me, the answer is so that I can love again.

The image: I took a photo of a print I have that looks exactly like my Eddie, gone for a dozen or more years now, and I'm sitting here sobbing.

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35 comments
(Edited)

You made me cry again, thanks. I lost a dapple dachshund about 5 years ago to old age. True to form, he tried to protect me one last time; and hid. Without question he was the best dog I've ever been blessed with! I found him two days later, hiding by his brother's grave. I buried him next to his brother...it's hard to dig, when you can hardly see for tears!

Then I sat like a fool, and sang a song he loved to hear when he was in my lap; and he'd drift off to sleep every time!

I think I'll do that again tomorrow. He was a great little warrior!

In Ephesians, it says they have the breath of life (reoch), so they have a soul; which I never doubted, so we'll see them again!
Sharing this....

💗🐾🐶🐾🐶🐾💙👍🤠🤔

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Oh my! What a wonderful dog! I imagine you will never stop mourning his loss. Thank you for telling his story.

Of course they have souls. Anyone who has ever loved an animal can attest to that.

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I had dozens of rescues come through here while he was running my house. He showed them all where the water and food and go out was, he was my welcome wagon! He helped me adopt out a lot of orphan Dachshunds....

👍💙🐾🐶🐾🐶🐾💗🤠

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I don't even want to think of the time I will have to say goodbye to my furry monster...

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It's very hard. I hold each and every one of them, if I can, until I feel their hearts have stopped. Sobbing uncontrollably. In a way, it's an exquisitely beautiful moment.

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Before Freddy, there was Eddie - what a beautiful creature! And what a beautiful poem!
This:

I sometimes wonder why I have pets at all, or love anyone at all, because the loss of them is so terrible. Why do we not go into a dark place forever when someone or something that we love is lost?

And this!
For me, the answer is so that I can love again.

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Your poem captures the feeling so perfectly. The warmth leaving their bodies, that sense of helplessness to stop it. It's so painful to lose them, but the love I have shared with my pets is far greater than any love I have felt with another human. I don't mean that in an anti-social kind of way, but, really, there is no love so pure and unconditional.
Thank you for sharing your Eddie. I have an Edie, the shorthaired she-version.

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So painful, but then, we got to have them with us for a while or it wouldn't be so hard when they are gone. Pets are a mixed bag of emotions, just like people except they are easier to love, and return that love in spades. Thanks for your comment!

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Why love anything/anyone at all, if they're going to die? Because love is so worth it. Even the pain. I'm so sorry <3

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This was a long time ago, there have been many losses since then, human, canine, feline and chicken. The good news is that I now believe we bring them back to life when we remember them, so none of them are truly gone, the love for them all still exists. I'm full up with love.

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I think we do, too.
Good. You deserve to be.

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Very nice poem, in my case I have lost dogs, but I understand what happens to you, they are like 4 legged angels that are for us at all times and when they pass away it's like losing a loved one, but well, I feel so sorry for Eddie, great poem ♥

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Thank you! It's so hard to lose them.

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I hold you more tightly just to keep you warm
for a tiny bit longer,

A last act of love, so sad @owasco!

I never was a cat person, till we inherited our son's cat, who crept into my heart. Poe is intuitive, knew that something was wrong with my darling hubs. He still misses his 'Grandpa', looks at me with big eyes in the living room where the three of us used to sit at night!

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Oh! Poe could be grieving too. I'm glad you have him to keep you company. It must be very hard right now.

After my son died, I was so grateful for my three pets. And my daughters, who managed to come stay with me for several weeks during and after his death, and have come to visit very often in the past year. When they leave, I get very sad and lonely. Their coming has tapered off a little because their lives, like all working persons' lives, are very full and demanding. So, now I go visit them.

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This is beautifully sad. I understand why you feel this way, if I only had a dime for each time I lost a pet and said I will not get another one. Now we have two dogs but neither belongs to us but we are the ones who take care of them and when they go, I will say no more, until I get the next one.

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Yeah. I don't know how I would have gotten through some of those years without pets to lavish love upon, and to love me, especially this last one.

I had Eddie for twenty two years. He was a fabulous friend. I miss him still, and he's been gone more than twelve years.

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We had our last cat, Little One, for 21 years. My husband was crushed when she passed. When he walked the dogs she would go along with them, when he hunted she was with him. Every afternoon he would sit in the yard having his beer with Little One on one knee, our pet chicken Beedy Eyed Bitch on the other, and our Rotwieller sitting on the ground next to him. They did this every day, one day I tried to take a picture and none of them would sit still, he had to hold them still.

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Oh that must have been wonderful! Animals can be so loving, and quirky.

I used to take my two dogs and two cats for walks in the woods near my last house. We'd come out the front door together, and walk back in together an hour or so later. It was really cool. They all stayed right with me for our daily two mile walk down to a lake. The dogs would take a little dip, and back we would all go. Neighbors got a kick out of it. It was really cool.

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You are the only other person that I know of that cats went on walks with their dogs.

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So are you for me, or I guess your husband. They were never very far from me, maybe 100 feet. It was really fun.

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Same for my husband, when she smelled something that she did not like, maybe a wild animal, she would have him carry her.

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Life without them is just empty

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For a while, and there's always that empty place in my heart. But then, I fill the space with another one. That's not as easy to do with humans, at least not for me.

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It isn't. Cats filled the space for me for nearly 20 years for me after I lost my favourite human. I have met another but even after 20 years it wasn't easy to do. But I find myself seeing cats that remind me of lost cats and then I have to restrain myself. At 5, I have enough with the others that came to me

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The lyrics serve to vent feelings that sometimes squeeze the heart with sadness. Your poem conveys that love and melancholy.

Beautiful verses.
Thanks for sharing.
Good day.

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Thanks for stopping by and reading my poem!

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I don't keep pets, but I love to watch them do certain things. Sometimes they're so adorable as they try to respond as if they could hear us. It's painful to loss one ,I know but you've rightly said, it happens so you can love another.

Great poem

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