Empty place on the beach

Where is the best moment in a day where you say goodbye to a member of your family? How can there even be a best moment in such a day?

Today we said goodbye to our 15-year-old Vizsla, Jazz. Yesterday he was running on the beach, playing with his older brother, jumping off the dunes. Today his backend collapsed. He couldn't use or feel anything in his back legs.

We took him to the vet. His x-rays showed five vertebrae fused together by arthritis. They finally put so much pressure his spinal cord that nerve impulses couldn't get through. He was in pain. The vet said with treatment, he might walk again but he would never run on the beach (or anywhere), never climb or jump off a dune, never swim in the ocean. For a being with all his heart and his energy that is not a life. Since three of our dogs are all pretty old, we have talked about this possibility many times. So the decision, while painful, was not difficult.

So where is the best moment in this? First, there is Jazz's life. He has been a member of our family, and we his pack, since he was eight weeks old. He was a certified therapy dog. He touched the lives of so many people, children and adults, with disabilities. He was silly, mischievous, incredibly intelligent and full of energy and heart right to the end. He brought so much love and joy to not only our lives, but so many others as well.

This morning when he collapsed, Elaine was here to take care of him, to get him to the vet. I was out but close by and got to the vet very quickly. We were both with him, sitting on the floor, holding him, loving him, giving him peace right up to his last breath.

We're all leaving this plane of existence at some point. I can't think of a better way than at peace, held in the loving arms of those who love you the most. That was the best moment in this day.