Logan

One of the hardest lessons I've learned in my short life is that everything needs perspective. My dog died today. He was an amazing pet that my family will miss greatly. It was one of the hardest things I have had to do in my life, bury pets. It's process that tears me up inside, not merely for physical act of digging a very deep hole in the rain (for some reason it's always raining), but because there is nothing that kills me more in the world, than see my father cry. It's the most horrible thing to endure. But, as I hurt that a member of my family is gone, and one more of my childhood pets has left this world, it's all about perspective.

Tim Russert, cherished news anchor, father and husband died quite suddenly today. I can't imagine his wife and son (who recently graduated from college) and what they must be going through. Or my aunt, who had to deal with her husband being slowly taken by  brain cancer. Their immediate and enduring feelings of pain. How simple my life seems where all my grandparents are still living and I can count funerals I have attended on one hand. How the most tragic events in my life so far were the deaths of two of my childhood pets. Both passing at home and with minimal pain. 

So, while I hurt for my puppy and will miss him throughout my life, I consider how flowered my path truly is. How much worse things could be and are for many. As Iowa floods and thousands are evacuated; as boy scouts grieve for friends lost to a tornado. I must remember that my father's tears will cease and he will heal. That everything will be ok, if not entirely whole without my big polar bear.

For Logan (November 2, 1997- June 13th, 2008)