Grieving For Your Pet: One Man's Poignant Story

Photo of the author, Joe Yonan, and his beloved dog, Red, courtesy of The Washington Post

Each time we read an article about the depth of grief that so many humans feel upon the loss of a pet, Parental Unit can't help but think about the loss of two of her previous dogs-the first, although nearly 12, died suddenly, and the most recent, her old guy, Carson, for whom she made the gut-wrenching decision to end his discomfort at the age of 16. She is still grieving for both, even though her first dog, Benjie, was struck and immediately killed by a car way back in early 1981. She admits to still dreaming about both Benjie and Carson, and she always reaches to pet me, stretched out beside her, when she awakens from one of these dreams.

But it's Joe Yonan, the food and travel editor for The Washington Post who wrote this beautiful article on grieving for your pet, whose story we hope you enjoy today. Mr Yonan came home from work one day to find his seven year old adopted Doberman, Red, dead on the floor. Red had recently been diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia, and he had given him his first dose of antibiotics right before he left. Mr. Yonan writes eloquently about the depth of his grief-which is fitting because, well,  he's a writer. "I'm a writer, and I need to process my grief by writing, so that's what I'm doing."

In fact, one of Yonan's sources for this article, Kathy Reiter, who leads monthly pet-loss support groups, told him that she did the same thing: "It's self-serving, but it's a tribute, and it's a catharsis for you. You want to capture the memories, so you don't forget." And that we do have-plenty of wonderful memories.

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