Our simple bounties

By isak, April 6, 2010

I am struck by how we overlook the simple bounty we have all around us. We take it for granted that the sun will rise each day, that our dog will poop outside and that our cat will sleep on top of us at night.

The internet has brought the world closer and social media has made it possible for us to lend a hand to causes around the globe. With the click of a mouse, we can sign a petition or “share” info on animals in urgent need. I even participated in the rescue of a dog from death row a few weeks ago purely by happenstance. I “shared” her info on Facebook and within hours, plans were in the works to save her.

By magic, people stepped up to pull her from the shelter, foster her and drive her the five hours to her new home.

What a “high” we all got from the experience.

But closer to home… in my own home… I lost one of my cats this morning. I have just buried her.

She died as a result of a freak accident. One that hindsight says I could have been prevented. And in hindsight, I WOULD have done things differently. In hindsight, I would have been much more diligent, more careful, more aware…. simply, I would have been “more.”

But hindsight is neither fair nor kind.

Does this freak accident make me an irresponsible pet owner? Certainly it didn’t have to happen, but the morning routine was not anything different than it has been for years. Except this morning, something terrible happened and my baby Paketo paid with her life.

No amount of tears, no amount of hugs, no amount of prayers and begging put her life back into her tiny body. No amount of screams have brought me any comfort. I ran to her lifeless body hoping and wishing that maybe it was not her. But that wish was not mine to have today.

There are simply no words to express to you how hard this loss is to me. The pain takes me to a place where there are no words. Just pain, regret, sadness, remorse, anger… and silence.

I lost my baby Paketo this morning. This was not at all what I expected from this day. And there is nothing you can say to me to make me feel worse than I do.

But I would like to ask you to take a moment and recognize the simple bounties in your own life. And I would ask you to extend this recognition of your own bounty to family, friends and community. We all make mistakes and nobody can make us feel worse than we make ourselves.

So how about we all step back for a minute and take a new look at things? How about we offer kindness and humility to our neighbors? How about we consider what Francesca has endured for the past 20 months? Brindi is still alive. How about we give Francesca the chance to do things different? I would give the world for that chance right now.

Please, for today, spread this message as far and wide as you can. Take it beyond Halifax. Send it to your friends, your family and your community. We can all do a little better for our companion animals. Maybe we can even treat people as we would like to be treated for a change.

I love you always, baby Paketo! And I am so sorry…

Un beso, Holly

[Note: Paketo is the phonetic spelling of the Spanish word for “little.” Full grown, Paketo weighed 5 pounds. She was my “little Paketo,” my “little little.”]