death

I didn't have many experiences with death when I was young. (Obviously, no personal experiences as I am still alive and interfering in most of your lives.)

I can only remember one loved pet dieing. It was a little white guinea pig I'd been able to have at the end of the school year. I don't even remember if it was a he or she or how old it was. I do remember that it was a hot Arizona evening when I discovered it was mostly gone. We had a babysitter who obviously had not learned much compassion. I think I tried to revive it under some running water and the babysitter dangled it in the air, waving its little legs(arms) at me to show me it was OK. It wasn't. The next day, my dad took it to "bury" it on his way to work. I later learned that he tossed it in the dumpster. No wonder they wouldn't let me attend the funeral services!

I can't remember having any other pets die. They mostly "ran away" (which translated into being given away while we weren't looking), or we found them new homes because they weren't working out.

I had two grandparents die while I was young, but I wasn't extremely close to them and don't remember feeling too sad. I attended the funeral for one and was more disturbed by the viewing than the loss of the person. My last grandparent died the night before I was married. She had been suffering from diabetes for years and had already lost part of her leg. It was not a distressing thing for me as I knew she was "home" again, reunited with Grandpa and whole again.

There hasn't been a death on my side of the family in 9 years (tomorrow). For that, I feel very blessed. Because of that, my children have had very few experiences with death. We lost a kitten about a year and a half ago, but they weren't attached to it yet. It did spark several conversations on heaven and resurrection.

Then we moved to the country. Shortly after settling in, our biggest (and meanest) rabbit got out for a night or so. Chad caught her again, but she died the next day. A few months later, the other 2 rabbits got out. We caught one and never did find the other. A few weeks ago, we adopted a stray rabbit from someone who found it, but didn't want to keep it. Then the neighbor's dog broke into the cage. One rabbit was never found, but the newest one was dead on the ground by the rabbit pen with teeth marks in her back. The boys found her.

Sunday, we lost Tabby. She got herself into some trouble and came home looking quite grotesque. All the kids saw her as we stood there looking at her, trying to decide what to do with her. There was dripping blood involved. Eventually, we distracted the kids while Chad caught her and got her into a box. We hooked her up to the truck's exhaust and then buried her a ways into the pasture. That really started some conversations on heaven and resurrection. We prayed for Jesus to take care of her in Heaven. We tried to explain to the kids that while it was very sad, this is a "farm" and animals die. (I also tried to explain that if she had been a person, we would have tried to help her. We don't need anyone afraid for their lives around here.)

So the neighbor with the hungry dog called yesterday. They are providing us with two replacement bunnies. Chad is working on reinforcing the cage. We are adopting two little kittens on Friday. We were already going to adopt them, but we're now willing to get them a little bit earlier. I'm hoping that they'll be accepted better if they're younger. They will be just shy of 8 weeks. I'm also hoping that they don't join Tabby!

And to top it off, we're going to try 2 bum lambs in a couple weekends. We'll see if they survive the rough start they've had and prepare the kids before hand that they might not live.

And so I've been thinking of death and its recent visits to our family. I've found myself grateful that the kids are having some experience on a smaller scale. I'm hoping that it will give them better understanding and preparation for the inevitable time when a close family member dies. Maybe I'll benefit, too. Although, I hope I get YEARS of practice with farm animals before I have to be tested with a loved one.