Goodbye ... Rest in Peace

KASHA, 2000-2011

Kasha was the son of my sister's dog, Buddy.  Kasha was born during a time when my daughter was in grade three and completely dog-crazy.  We lived in an apartment and were not able to have dogs so instead we had two cats and she had 49 imaginary dogs.  As we were soon moving into a condo where dogs would be permitted, my sister kindly agreed to give us one of Buddy's puppies.  Soon after the puppies were born, we went to visit my sister to check out the puppies and we were immediately drawn to a small palm-sized little treasure; at the time, we though HE was a SHE.  We decided to bring the little one home and named him Kasha which means "costs lots of money but worth every penny".   Thankfully the arrival of Kasha signaled the departure of the 49 imaginary dogs  who fortunately (for me) decided they preferred apartment life and stayed at the apartment when we moved to the condo.  It was not too long before we realized that she was actually a he but Kasha was cute, cuddly and tons of fun.  He was very easy to train and even easier to love.


 As Kasha grew older, he was the dog that never lost his youth ~ still cute like a puppy and happy to play and go on walks.  Age took his toll on him with the poodle curse of rotting teeth and achy bones but he seemed happy most of the time.  The loss of his bladder control was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back and it was really a quick downward spiral with peeing all over the house, on people, in his bed and even slipping down the stairs.

Me & Kasha ~ our last day together

Dogs are part of our families; they are true and loyal friends; they are our constant companions.

It was so hard to say good bye to Kasha today.  I will miss him. It felt even more difficult because he was a present from my sister and having him part of my life kind of felt like she was still part of my life somehow.  I will always miss her.

Goodbyes are sadly a part of life.  During our lifetime we will say many goodbyes.  We say goodbye to friends whose lives tragically end too soon.  We say goodbye to partners and life mates.  We say goodbye to sisters.  We say goodbye to pets.

The "good" in a goodbye can be found in the reason why they are so hard ~ it is because that person or that pet was so special and such an important part of our lives that we will miss them dearly.  And when we miss them, we send love and light their way and wherever they are, they know that they mattered, they were important and they made a difference in somebody's life. 

" How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

 Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan