Echoes

Several weeks ago I was digging through pages of writing from a friend in hopes that I would discover some quotable sentences for cards I am making. One line really grabbed me: “I am grateful for the echoes”. Something really resonated with me when I read that.
Just this week it occurred to me that memory is the source of those echoes. Maybe it’s the voice you hear in a dream. Maybe it’s the feeling you can’t shake, that seems to rise up out of nowhere. I’m still struggling to come up with some appropriate art to use for a card but the meaning has been clarified. There is an echo that comes from our experience.

Echo = memory.

A beautiful equation.

Lots of echoes here this week. We are slowly approaching the anniversary of Sassy’s passing. Those memories aren’t all sad. It was a time of witnessing deep connections. There is a strained kind of comfort that comes from knowing the end is near. The moments, each one, become precious. I suppose it is like planning a remodel of the heart. You create new sacred spaces in which to hold these new memories.

Watching animals connect to one another is an experience unrivaled by anything I know. Gus rarely left her side. He spent his days watching over her as though he understood that another dimension was beckoning. He seemed to know his role as the days Sassy would spend with us began to dwindle. He was caretaker of the space around her. Some days it brought me to tears being a part of this last, slow dance of the spirit.

When Sassy came to us she had been an “only dog”. She had never lived with another dog, never slept in a crate, never met a cat. There were lots of question marks when we took her in. As it happened, we deferred to our new family of creatures in establishing the pecking order. We gave them the space to bond. And it happened like you might imagine magic happens.

They snuggled and played. There was room for all of their big personalities and in the end they fit like a puzzle. Each piece sliding gently into one another. This is how I’ll remember them. How I’ll always remember her.
Memories of the heart.
I am grateful for these echoes …

( You can meet my friend Gretchen here. She has written some beautiful things in her blogs and I am beyond grateful for her words and for our connection )