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<center><sub><em> photo, design & artwork © Heather Johnsgaard</em></sub></center></div>
It takes time before the pain is gone; I'm not sure when it disappears I have no clear memory of it leaving. For months I mourned and then one day I was able to recall memories without tears leaking from the corners of my eye.
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It's such a silly thing, to mourn so strongly for a pet. Do I mourn the same for people I wonder. I cannot always remember the pain of losing a loved one, but I always remember the loss of my pet; and it sits with me still. 
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<center><b>Does that make me some kind of uncaring, unfeeling monster?</b></center>
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<center><sub><em> photo, design & artwork © Heather Johnsgaard</em></sub></center></div>I have often been criticized for treating my pets like children, been frowned upon for cooking special meals for them, received dirty looks because they have the run of my house, or heard remarks like "they're just a dog".

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In any given situation, and at any given time, we care for the ones who need us most. Pets just seem to need us more, for as humans we are wired to grow, learn, and become independent.
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We have taken that ability away from our domesticated furry counterparts. We have taken them out of the wild and into the home where they are no longer free to hunt and forage and care for themselves; we are obliged to do it for them.

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<center><sub><em> photo, design & artwork © Heather Johnsgaard</em></sub></center></div>I suppose the pain from loss is because we have made that pet a part of our family, spending much of their life with them by our side, that alone makes the bond overly strong.

<center><b>Pets are children for ever, they never really grow up, they just grow old;</b></center>


Totally dependent upon us, we need to do pretty much everything for them because they are forever toddlers. We can teach them tricks like fetch, catch or roll over, and we can even teach them to open the fridge and retrieve something. But it's just a trick of which they would not have been successful had we not made it possible for it to work.

<center><b>There are two sides to every coin, and we are just as dependent upon them</b></center>

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<center><sub><em> photo, design & artwork © Heather Johnsgaard</em></sub></center></div>We look for them to greet us when we come home. We are grateful when we can whisper our greatest feelings and secrets and they become our sounding boards. We hug them when we are sad, and we play with them when we are happy. And just like our children, we expect them to listen and to behave, and we look for them to be by our side.
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Pets are our natural healers. Their presence and the act of stroking their fur calms us, takes away anxiety, help to rid us of our stresses.
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They are our companions in times of loneliness and despair. They listen when no one else will and they love us no matter what. Unconditionally. All they ask in return is love and care and to be with us.

<center><b>More often than not, they make us laugh and bring us joy!</b></center>

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<center><sub><em> photo, design & artwork © Heather Johnsgaard</em></sub></center></div>

It's okay to mourn, in fact, it is healthy to mourn, as long as we do not let ourselves fall into depression over it. The first days are the worst, the pain lessens as time goes by.

I have had many pets over the years, and I have loved each and every one of them. I have loved them all with varying depths of love, for like humans they are all different, each with their own unique personalities.

<center><b>And I mourn them all still... to this day</b></center>

Memories are the photographs our hearts take...

<sub><i><b>These stepping stones are memory markers I have started to make to remember a loved one. Pet or human, it matters not. Remembered with love, remembering is love.</b></i></sub>



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