Annie …

I often see things that converge together. It happened again this morning when I watched a “Talk Talk” on the subject of dying. There, a man with only one limb left on his body, gave a stunning eighteen minute talk. His speech lovingly dealt with death as “soft” … even “celebratory.” Deflecting much of the agony and suffering that death can involve. Then during lunch with my son in law the same day I watched the talk, he told me that the family’s beloved golden lab, Annie, was dying of cancer. She had maybe six months to live. We have all heard about losing a beloved animal as being akin to losing a child. Losing Annie would be no different.

But how did Annie’s impending death converge with the Ted Talk I listened to? I am always captivated by presenters who speak with tears welled in their eyes. As was the case here. The speaker was a hospice nurse with two prosthetic legs and one arm. He had decided to accept pending deaths he witnessed every day, with grace and thanks for the lives he cared for. He described some of those who knowing they were dying, chose to leave life more wistfully. View it as a time to accept death as more natural. A time to reflect on their lives. Versus lament and struggle through it. A time to “be” … just be. I teared with our speaker as he spoke.

Which brings me back to Annie. So full of fun and energy. So, innocent. So beautifully oblivious to the brief time she had left. Certainly, her passing would bring the tears and sorrow death brings on. But like the beautiful guy above so wonderfully put it. Annie’s death could be one of thanks and love, focus on all she had given us. Her loving family had decided once they got word of her incurable illness, they would take her last days to celebrate her. Love her, appreciate her more than ever before. Be there for her while she was still there for them. Annie’s death would be a life lesson. A way of knowing that her last days need not be final. So much of her would live on with us. All the memories. All the joy she gave us.

A Ted Talk on dying gracefully. A beloved pet whose remaining days could be embraced. Both with love and thanks. A convergence, a connection between the two that brings me joy. The tears and the sorrow of Annie’s passing would lessen in time. Eventually turn to smiles and memories. The gifts she left for all of us to celebrate.