I think his happy nature did a lot for him, in the end. He didn't seem to care his legs didnt work and he didn't know what was coming in the end. Always happy and willing to comply. And in the end, the very end, in the vets office, he rested his beautiful head in my hand, and looked at me with his big eyes, and he always had such an expressive face, and he said that it was ok, he trusted me and everything was going to be ok. He wasn't afraid, he just was, the same as every day. There's some beauty in the simplicity of animals, even if it breaks my heart.
Oh, yeah, my grandparents. My grandfather also had alzheimers and he died 5 years ago. He was gone way before then. My grandparents donated their bodies to science, so there wasn't a funeral. For my grandfather there was a little gathering at the nursing home, and like you said there was someone talking who didn't known him. The Chaplin saw a picture of my grandfather in his army uniform and blathered on about how meaningful war service was, and sacrifice etc. My grandfather was an accountant in the military during WWII. It was just a job, it didn't mean a thing. When my grandmother died, we had a phone gathering and all talked about our favorite stories.
I cleaned the room right after, and my mom took a lot of his stuff with her to store at her house, and the toys are going to a charity yard sale. The shelter only takes plastic toys that can be sterilized. It's mostly his presence missing that makes it weird for me to go in there. That, and I didn't realize how much corgi adorned stuff I had until now.
And what you said about the bodies- after it was done, and the vet left to give me privacy, just as soon as I pulled myself together, I had to get out of there. It was painful to look at him. That was my dog, but now it wasnt, and it was like a visceral reaction, I had to leave and nearly bowled over the vet in my haste, he had to run to catch up, ha. I didn't think I would react that way, that was surprising.
I don't think i really processed my grief at all for him, I think I went through the relief, and then just supressed most of the actual grief.
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Oh, yeah, my grandparents. My grandfather also had alzheimers and he died 5 years ago. He was gone way before then. My grandparents donated their bodies to science, so there wasn't a funeral. For my grandfather there was a little gathering at the nursing home, and like you said there was someone talking who didn't known him. The Chaplin saw a picture of my grandfather in his army uniform and blathered on about how meaningful war service was, and sacrifice etc. My grandfather was an accountant in the military during WWII. It was just a job, it didn't mean a thing. When my grandmother died, we had a phone gathering and all talked about our favorite stories.
I cleaned the room right after, and my mom took a lot of his stuff with her to store at her house, and the toys are going to a charity yard sale. The shelter only takes plastic toys that can be sterilized. It's mostly his presence missing that makes it weird for me to go in there. That, and I didn't realize how much corgi adorned stuff I had until now.
And what you said about the bodies- after it was done, and the vet left to give me privacy, just as soon as I pulled myself together, I had to get out of there. It was painful to look at him. That was my dog, but now it wasnt, and it was like a visceral reaction, I had to leave and nearly bowled over the vet in my haste, he had to run to catch up, ha. I didn't think I would react that way, that was surprising.
I don't think i really processed my grief at all for him, I think I went through the relief, and then just supressed most of the actual grief.