Monthly Archives: February 2014
Eerie parallels
January 31 was the first day my dog Chaussette wasn’t there to greet my son when the school bus brought him home after school. (I would put her on a leash to keep her from trying to board the bus and greet her adoring fans, and then the two of us would stand in the […]
The arrival of Skipper
Our household is pleased to welcome its new arrival, a betta that, after some intense thought on Sage’s part, has been christened “Skipper.” He named his fish in honor of my grandmother’s spunky but long deceased goldfish of the same name. She’d told us how, when my father and aunt were children, her family was […]
Choosing my story
As my grief for my dog Chaussette has calmed, I’ve had time to reflect on her role in my life. I’ve concluded that whether it’s attributable to God, Buddha, Allah, the Force, or just a desperate human attempt to find meaning in the random, there really WAS a reason for her brief sojourn with me. […]
A Formal Feeling
I’ve finally moved from Emily Dickinson’s “Sweeping up the heart” phase of grief for my dog Chaussette to her “After a great pain/A formal feeling comes” phase. (Emily Dickinson makes a perceptive guide when navigating the waters of sorrow.) My initial reaction to Chaussette’s premature death—she was barely a year old—was not just sadness, but […]
Moments of Unexpected Beauty 