Comment by PH95VuimJjqBqy
2 years ago
When I was young my youngest brother walked across a large firepit barefoot (no one realized it was still hot, the neighbor had been burning wood and the like outside).
He experienced 3rd degree burns on his feet and my mother rushed him to the hospital. My stepfather at the time was basically freaking out, my mother was very calm. After it was over the thing she told us is that panicking in an emergency helps no one.
It's a lesson I've kept with me my entire life. Most of the time, for me to truly process things, I need to be alone. I have no doubt I would come across as detached and not caring if something tramautic were to happen to me.
OTOH, I had to put a pet down once and I was crying like a baby so maybe not. I've never been in a situation where I haven't had time to process before really speaking about it to others so I really am not sure what my response would be.
> I had to put a pet down once and I was crying like a baby so maybe not
I relate with much of your comment but this was something I actually considered writing before. The most drastic emotional response I've ever experienced was putting a pet down. I knew it was the right choice, planned it out, to be done at home in the back yard, his favorite place and final resting place, and even made time for one last outing to his favorite lake a little while before.
But with all the planning and forethought, it's like I started grieving before the event happened. So when it did happen, I just cried and cried. Like, sobbing on the floor for an hour type thing. Also, the fact he was mentally still 100% but his body was failing made it a wrenching decision that I was questioning even though I felt like it was the humane choice.
I was really in a funk for about a year after. The first couple months, I'd just randomly cry as some old memory would pop in my head. I was really close to this dog though, was like a child to me and it hit really hard. I got him in my early 20s, then later married but hadn't had kids yet. For some reason, the saddest thought in my head was "he'll never get to meet my kids". I've had 2 dogs since, that have been more like pets than children and I have real children too which changes the dynamic entirely.
For me it was unexpected, through a series of very unfortunate events my inside cat got into my neighbors yard and the dog attacked it.
I took her to emergency surgery, spent about $2k until the vet basically told me there was no point. They put me in a room, wrapped her in a towel, and brought her in for me to spend time with before we put her to sleep. I just remember after they put her in my arms she looked up at me and started purring and I couldn't have stopped the tears if I had wanted to. I'm not a fan of anthropomorphizing animals, but I like to think she felt safe in that last moment.
Even just thinking about it now gets me upset. What makes it worse is that the actions of my neighbor contributed to her death. I had to chalk it up to stupidity, the alternative would be an impotent rage that would do none of us any good.
That was probably 8 years ago, and even now if I talk much about her my girlfriend will start crying. They're just pets, and yet...
Thanks for sharing. I too get teary-eyed thinking too much about it too much, but find as time passes it's much more filled with happy thoughts as you remember back on your time together. Nothing too additive to say but just wanted to acknowledge and voice respect for sharing in your experience, it's crazy how deep those relationships can be. I actually do believe they're pretty damn smart and that final eye gaze had a lot of love embedded. I have same, and it felt like he was saying "it's time, I'm ready" which is probably in my mind but that's the reality I choose for myself lol