Goodbyes suck. I personally hate saying goodbye to anyone and plus, I am an emotional person so that just adds another layer to it. But in all seriousness, they are not fun. You are saying goodbye to something or someone that you might not see for a while or maybe even again. Anyway, it is that time of year when goodbyes are common occurrences; school semesters are ending and people are saying goodbye to friends, family, and loved ones as everyone heads their separate directions for the summer months. When I left my friends after the semester ended, I thought I was finished with goodbyes. Little did I know, there would be one more goodbye four days after I arrived home.
Death is hard; it is difficult to discuss, to experience, and to witness. There's no way around it; it isn't easy on anyone. It has been a long time since I experienced some sort of death, whether that be a family member, a family friend, or even an animal. Well, one of the many evil things about death is that it can happen at anytime, whether you're ready for it or not. 
I wasn't ready, not even a little bit. It had been just a little over a week since I learned that our family dog had been diagnosed with osteosarcoma, bone cancer, in his right hip. It was a very aggressive form and the cancer had taken over his hip and was moving to his lower spine. He was an older dog and even if we wanted to operate and attempt to remove the tumor, the surgeon said that by the time this type of cancer is found, it is too late to act at any age. So that left my family with one option: to make his final days his happiest.
At funerals, it is common for people to share their favorite memories about the person who has died and during these final days with my pet, I wanted to do the same. So instead of dwelling on the what was to come, I chose to think of the positive aspects. I thought of when we first went to pick him up as a puppy over twelve years ago, how excited he would get when we would go to the boat, and that every Saturday morning, he would wait until my family finished eating breakfast so he could have his share of scrambled eggs. These happy memories and the countless others helped me through these hardest of days. After he passed, I knew he was in no more pain and that he lived a long and happy life. Yes, it was hard to come home and not have him run to the door to greet me and I still have moments where I stop to think about how he isn't here, but you can't dwell on the sad times.
So here is my advice: when you experience death in any sort, take time to grieve--that is an important part of the process--but then think about the wonderful memories that you have. Some will make you smile, others might make you laugh or even cry, but in any case, think about the positive. You can't change the fact that death happened, but know that you can affect the days to come. I'm not saying it will be easy or fast, everyone has a different way of processing situations, but it will be okay.
