<p>So glad you found peace in this. Thank you so much for sharing.</p>
<p>I will continue to lift you up in prayer.</p>
<p>berurah-
So sorry to hear of your loss, but it sounds like you were all able to say goodbye and get some closure. That kit you found to take patche’s pawprints sounds perfect. I recall we had to “bake” Nikki’s pawprint as well, so it must be a similar material (I thought it was plaster, but what do I know).Ours is not in a frame, though- just a round thing- like a sand dollar.
Having it, and the photos, by your computer station sounds lik the perfect place! You will get to gaze at it often! :)</p>
<p>RIP Patch. Loving memories abound on earth. I hope Patch is romping with Mardi Gras III, the beloved animal-kid of my late uncle and aunt, who we had to hand over to God in February 2005.
Hugs to your family.</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing this most intimate experience. Patch was one very lucky dog to have gotten to be a member of your family. It can’t be easy for Duke-boy to be away at school, how is he doing?</p>
<p>berurah, </p>
<p>I am saddened to hear about the loss of your precious dog, Patch. Heartfelt sympathies to you and your family. I feel, as do I’m sure many of us here, that we knew Patch a little bit through you. He sounded like a champion among dogs - loyal, sweet and true. I know you will miss him. </p>
<p>Keeping you and your family in my thoughts.</p>
<p>berurah,
So happy that Patch seemed to go peacefully. We have a little ceramic statue in our kitchen of a dog which looks very similar to ours, and my screensaver is a picture of a very similar looking dog. Glad you were able to preseve a tangible reminder of your beloved pet. Wishing you fond memories of your good times with Patch.</p>
<p>berurah,
Please accept my heartfelt sympathy on the passing of Patch. You shared your family’s tragic experience and ability to come to terms with the outcome with such grace. I know that Patch will always be alive in all of your hearts.</p>
<p>I’m so glad you were all able to be with Patch and say your goodbyes. He knew he was loved, and that-along with knowing when to let go was the greatest gift you could give him.</p>
<p>is the letting go."</p>
<p>Hi friends~</p>
<p>I just wanted to let you all know that we’re o.k. We’re doing much better today.</p>
<p>Last night, my oldest D asked if I would help her put some temporary hair color in her hair (of course the color was a whole, whopping one shade darker than her own natural brunette hair! 
). Truthfully, it was the very LAST thing I felt like doing (her hair is waist length and THICK). I was emotionally wasted and just wanted to sit, wrapped in a soft blanket and chill. But she really needed this and needed me to spend some more time with her, so I told her, “sure…”</p>
<p>When she came out from wetting her hair down, she said, “Mom, I thought of the perfect song for Patchy.” I asked her which song it was. She said that it was one from one of her very favorite Broadway musicals, “Children of Eden.” I don’t know how many of you have seen this remarkable show, but it is a very moving show with absolutely incredible music. It was the very first show that any of my kids was in.</p>
<p>There is this song, a very poignant and beautiful one, called, “The Hardest Part of Love.” It is a duet sung by two characters, Father (G-d) and Noah. </p>
<p>My daughter asked me last night if I would listen to the song on the CD with her. I told her that it would be <em>VERY</em> difficult for me to hear it at that time as even in my strongest moments, it is enough to reduce me to a blubbering mess. So then, she asked me, “Mom, do you mind if I sing part of it to you?” And I told her, “Oh, honey, I’d <em>LOVE</em> that…”</p>
<p>So, as I put the color in her hair, carefully working it through the long strands, she sang softly to me, in her beautiful 18-year-old voice…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Dearest {{{{{{{Patchy}}}}}}}, rest in peace.</p>
<p>~berurah
p.s. Here is a link to the entire set of lyrics for that song. It is in perfect context for the letting go that we have to do in order to send our beloved kids off to college.
<a href=“http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/childrenofeden/hardestpartoflove.htm[/url]”>http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/childrenofeden/hardestpartoflove.htm</a></p>
<p>Oh my. I’ve never heard it, but it’s beautiful. It could be a Parent’s Cafe anthem! </p>
<p>Music has a way of taking over when we run out of words, doesn’t it?</p>
<p>What a beautiful and moving song.</p>
<p>berurah,
hugs to you and family. I’m so sorry for the loss of Patch.</p>
<p>What a beautiful song! Had never heard of it before. Tough to get through, though, after reading your account of your family’s last time with Patch.
When working as a vet tech, the one thing I could NEVER get used to was seeing those goodbyes. I couldn’t begin to count the “I’m sorrys” I heard them tell their pets when the time came, when in fact they were doing the kindest thing they possibly could for them.
Best wishes to you and your family-</p>
<p>How sad to say goodbye to such a faithful and loving friend. I’m so sorry for your loss. ~love, corona {{{{HUG}}}}</p>
<p>ok, my make up is ruined and I cannot call any clients for at least an hour…I am absolutely sobbing, for you & your family and patch and in rememberance of the times I have held our pets as the life drifted out of them…for me seeing the lack of the spark of life in their eyes helped me process it all.</p>
<p>somemom~</p>
<p>{{{{{{{gentle hugs, sweetie}}}}}}} It’s <em>so</em> hard, isn’t it? love, ~b.</p>
<p>Berurah, I am so sad to hear of your loss. It’s difficult and heartwrenching, and tears still come to my eyes when I think back to the two dogs my husband and I lost … a cocker spaniel at 11 years of age and an australian shepherd mix at 15 years of age. Although it makes me cry when I read it, I found the following helpful. I believe someone else posted a link to this earlier, but I thought I would print the entire thing here. Thinking of you and your family!</p>
<hr>
<p>Rainbow Bridge (author unknown)</p>
<p>Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.</p>
<p>When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.</p>
<p>All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.</p>
<p>They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.</p>
<p>You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.</p>
<p>Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>not going in to work today, but when I first read Patch’s final moments I had the same reaction and went in the other room. H looked at me like “what’s wrong” and I had to explain that a “friend” on the cc forum had to put her doggie to sleep. sigh. He can’t relate to internet “friends” as he hates computers ;)</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and thanks for the Rainbow bridge. I read that a few years back and I love it :)</p>
<p>SplashMom~</p>
<p>Just <strong><em>WOW</em></strong>!!! To you and to those of you who referred to this very poignant and most special work, <em>THANK YOU</em>!!! It literally gave me goosebumps, and I could feel the sliding tears–not sad ones, but ones of hope and comfort. Thank you for putting that most touching and beautiful work into Patchy’s thread for all of us to share!</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom~
<em>lol</em>…my dh doesn’t get it entirely either, but neither does he question it! He works on a computer ALL DAY so won’t TOUCH one at home. To him, a computer is a work tool and little else! To me, though, it provides a life line to some of the finest human beings I have ever met (everyone who posted on this thread being among them! 
).</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>Berurah–
Look back at post # 147-- you’ll see that
I can just see them tossing around those moose toys, pulling at their horns and noses, discussing how they each had to make pawprints in that mushy white clay just to make us feel better…</p>