End of an era, Fletcher's turn.

[Crossless2.0]

My condolences. It's hard to lose such an old companion.

[Whateverist]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments. Fletcher is no more. He was lying beside me on the couch breathing ever more shallowly when I notices excessive drool around his mouth. I picked him up to take him outside and he went rag-doll limp in my arms. No more breathing. No more irregular heart beat. I laid him in the garden. Said my goodbyes. Called Heidi Rose over. She was reluctant to get very near. When the engine stops, we stop. He had a good death. I'm glad the window of our lives overlapped as much as they did.

Don't forget to make it count you guys.

[The Reality Salesman01]

I'm sorry to hear that Mark. I know he is a good friend, and has brought you lots of happiness. He will surely be missed.

---

That last post brought a tear to my eye. I'm gonna run home and hug my dog.

[Rahul]

Oh wow. That's pretty intense. I've never been with an animal when they passed normally like that.

I've been with a few dogs when they were put to sleep. I would loosely cup my hand around their nose so they could smell my scent. In the hopes a familiar person's smell would calm them while they passed.

It's good that he passed at home. Going to a vet with the emotions going in you gets to them. Even if they are too weak to show it much. It still scares them.

I'm glad Fletcher passed in a safe and comforting place next to you. I'm sure he would have preferred that way.

[The Reality Salesman01]

Me neither. I was reading that post out loud to my girlfriend and as I got choked up, I heard her sniffle. That's easily the saddest thing I've heard in a while.

[Kayenneh]

Yeah, there's no dry eyes on this side of the monitor either.. Goodbye Fletcher!

[Minimalist]

I'll drink my glass of wine tonight as a toast to him.

[Jackalope]

Yeah. When a dog won't eat bacon it's time to say goodbye.

Actually this would be a good test for my kids to use with me one day. When daddy won't eat some bacon you offer him just put the old boy down.

I've had a lot of reasons to think about this a lot over the last couple of years. I don't want to waste away like my father. I hope that one of my friends will bring me the means to end it while I still have the ability to act - while I still have a shred of human dignity.

Sorry for the macabre derail.

[Jackalope]

Thanks everyone for your nice comments. Fletcher is no more. He was lying beside me on the couch breathing ever more shallowly when I notices excessive drool around his mouth. I picked him up to take him outside and he went rag-doll limp in my arms. No more breathing. No more irregular heart beat. I laid him in the garden. Said my goodbyes. Called Heidi Rose over. She was reluctant to get very near. When the engine stops, we stop. He had a good death. I'm glad the window of our lives overlapped as much as they did.

Don't forget to make it count you guys.

I'm so sorry, whateverist.

[Angrboda]

You have my sincerest sympathies, whateverist.


A few years ago, around the time of my last suicide attempt, my therapist arranged for her, my sisters and I to get together for a session, to discuss my constant desire to end my life. One of my sisters tried to explain to me how she thought it would feel to lose me by analogizing it to losing a dog, that the companion you expected to be there would just be, "missing," for lack of a better word. And even now, though I think my family no longer loves or cares about me, as much as I'd like to think ill of that analogy, to be spiteful, I cannot. I knew the comfort of a canine companion before I knew how to walk or speak. Dogs were an inseparable part of my life growing up. One of the two things I resented about the place I'm currently living is that you cannot ordinarily have a dog. (I probably could now, with a doctor's note and such, but I can't even take care of myself, so I wouldn't want to be responsible for neglecting the needs of a pet.) All the same, my sisters have continued to have dogs as pets, and one of the two is very active in dog showing. In earlier years, I'd often stop by the house of one sister. I'd pretend I stopped by to spend time with my sister, but that was really a lie and I knew it. I went to spend time with the dogs.

I hope you are managing and that you are doing well, all things considered. Blessings and peace to you.