Comforting a friend who recently lost a pet is never easy and could take longer or shorter, depending on the individual. During this time of their life, they’ll need support from you to ease the pain and grief. Choosing to make yourself available to your friend when they need you is meaningful enough, but there are other ways you can be there for them during this transition.

“It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”– John Steinbeck

A few weeks’ ago I lost my friend of fourteen years, Morwen. I was lucky to have had her in my life for so many years. She beat cancer (twice,) as well as a serious illness in her kittenhood, and, although I would have liked to have had more time with her, she slipped as gracefully from this world as she lived her life the afternoon of Friday, June 1. She had been fading for a few weeks despite four veterinarians and two specialists’ attempts to help her. A few days before she died, a small shadow was found in the bones of her pelvis confirming our fear that cancer had once again returned after a two year remission. We all fell apart, including the veterinary staff, even though we all had known, I think, in our hearts that this was coming and coming quickly.