by Mike Duran · 15 comments
John Updike’s poem, Dog’s Death, is possibly the saddest poem I have ever read. It’s on my mind because tomorrow I’m putting my pal Buddy to sleep. Lie down. Good dog.
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A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us. -- Franz Kafka
Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace. -- Oscar Wilde
I'm normally not a praying man, but if you're up there, please save me Superman. -- Homer Simpson
Alas! Man's vices, horrible as they are supposed to be, contain the positive proof of his taste for the infinite. -- Baudelaire
The doubts of some are more indicative of a love for truth than the belief of others. -- John Ker
When I have found intense pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm refreshing sleep obtained by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God, and have blessed His name. -- Charles Spurgeon
Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. -- Susan Ertz
Is it not a great temptation to be so valiant in imagination and so cowardly in execution? -- St. Francis de Sales
Every human being is the author of his own health or disease. -- Buddha
Life is all your moments in a row. -- The Elms, Burn and Shine
Since life itself is uncertain, nothing which has life for its basis can boast much stability. -- Samuel Johnson
What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet. -- Woody Allen
Self-denial is the test and definition of self-government. -- G.K. Chesterton
For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool by making his world a little colder. -- The Beatles
To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell. -- Thomas Merton
I'd rather be ruled by a competent turk than an incompetent Christian. -- Martin Luther
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. -- Albert Einstein
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -- Aristotle
Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. -- Jesus
In measuring a circle, one begins anywhere. -- Charles Fort
The role of the artist is to not look away. -- Akira Kurosawa
Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must. -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The true nature of anything is what it becomes at its highest. -- Aristotle
There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. -- French Proverb
Something always takes the place of missing pieces. -- Beck, Guero
What you look at hard seems to look at you. -- Gerard Manley Hopkins
Better sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunken Christian. -- Herman Melville
There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking. -- Thomas A. Edison
To the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost blind you draw large and startling figures. -- Flannery O'Connor
True friends stab you in the front. -- Oscar Wilde
Every story of conversion is the story of a blessed defeat." -- C.S. Lewis
The ascetic is often a sensualist who has reached the limit of his capacity. -- Jacques Barzun
Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. -- Stephen King
All beneficent and creative power gathers itself together in silence, ere it issues out in might. -- James Martineau
It is much better to know something about everything, than everything about something. -- Pascal
How will we open the eyes of the dead, when we are hollow? -- Project 86, Truthless Heroes
There are, naturally, feelings that one cannot render. -- Degas
Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort. -- Charles Dickens
I have no fear of drowning, It's the breathing that's taking all this work. -- Jars of Clay, Good Monsters
The world speaks of holy things in the only language it knows, which is worldly language. -- Frederick Buechner
It is better to think of church in the ale-house than to think of the ale-house in church. -- Martin Luther
When I am king you will be first against the wall. -- Radiohead, OK Computer
The act of defending any of the cardinal virtues has today all the exhilaration of a vice. -- G.K. Chesterton
Trust the evolutionary process. It's all going to work out all right. -- Timothy Leary
We live in an age lit by lightnin'; after the flash, we're blind again. -- T-Bone Burnett, The Criminal Under My Own Hat
Action to relieve suffering is the abortion of karma. -- Os Guiness
The nice thing about being a celebrity is that when you bore people, they think it's their fault. -- Henry Kissinger
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m so sorry. I know that pain.
Mike, I’m so sorry. Over the past few years, my hubby had to say good bye to his 2 15-year-old dalmatians. It was the saddest thing I ever saw, watching my husband grieve over those animals. Something about a man and his dog. It really is a hard thing. God bless and comfort you, brother:)
Proverbs 10:10 A righteous man regards the life of his animal
I’m sorry, Mike. Peace be with you.
I’m sorry, too. May God grant you extra grace on this hard day.
I love that verse, Janet.
i’m so sorry. it’s amazing how God reaches into the depths of our soul through the animals He created. may He shower on You deep comfort.
He was young. Too young. Our last boxer lived till 12. Bud was 7. In fact, he was euthanized on his birthday. Weird, huh? He was a great dog — laid back, even keeled, and loved to snuggle. His hips were going out (it’s a boxer problem). He cried when he sat and rose. Finally, it got so bad, he rarely got up. Bud stopped eating and, with great hardship, stumbled outside to pee. Then he stopped stumbling outside and just peed on himself. He looked so shamed, but I assured him it was all right.
Got off work at lunch yesterday for a 1:30 appointment at the humane society. Spread a blanket on the front seat of my truck and laid him there. If he was well, he’d have had his snout out the window, flinging spittle as we went. But instead, he rested his head on my lap for the twenty minute ride. We talked.
I offered to carry him into the clinic but the nurses wisely suggested a gurney. Even emaciated the stud was a good 70 pounds. I hoisted him onto the cold metal and he laid down without protestation. The nurses put a blanket on him, wheeled him into a tiny room, and asked if I wanted to stay. I’d already made up my mind to do so. I knelt down, to get eye level, and massaged his floppy ears — something he cherished. The first shot was a tranquilizer, the second was sodium something-or-other. I was scratching his ears and telling him he was loved when he died. Cried the rest of the day.
Not sure where he went, or if I’ll ever see him again. But Buddy helped me along the way…
Oh, Mike. What a gift you gave Buddy in his final moments. I’m sitting here crying. I don’t know what else to say, but I wanted you to know.
Oh, Mike… no words good enough… sorry again. Remember that God cares about your loss, deeply. Cast all your cares on Him, He cares for you.
Good Bye My Bud-Bud, I will miss you. I have your picture in Theodores bedroom and I will be sure he knows about you. Thank you for being such a good dog, even for such a short time, I love you.
Me-Me
Just about 6 months ago, we had to do the same thing. Our beloved rottweiler, who thought he was a lap dog and loved everyone, had to be put to sleep. It broke my heart. I’m praying for you and your family, Mike. Other than the Lord, our faithful dogs are the only ones who love us unconditionally. The bond is strong.
I’m sorry Mike. I’m glad Buddy had you there.
I’m sorry the Duran Family. I only knew Bud for 3 years but he was a great dog! He will always be remembered!
– Trish
Hard, hard thing, saying good-bye to a pet you loved so much. I did it once as an adult and have not gotten another dog.
It’s amazing how God used that experience to prepare me for other deaths. Then I’ve tapped those emotions and experiences for my writing. Amazing how He redeems it all.
Still, it hurts. I’m so very sorry for your loss, Mike.
Becky
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