Pet Cemetery
Posted: Thursday, March 04, 2010
by Jack H. Schick
There are dead animals all over my yard. You wouldn't suspect it, just looking, but there is an aura of death and a stain of tears covering the whole lot. Most of the dead animals were pets. Dogs, cats, hamsters, chickens, ducks, turtles, fish; even lizards, snakes and frogs have been duly interred there over the past half dozen decades. Any dead bird or squirrel found in the yard also remains, under the sod, in a dark unmarked grave.
My parents died. We bought the house I grew up in, and moved there with our children and pets. There were already several generations of animal graves scattered about the grounds when we arrived. As the pet cemetery in the back corner by the creek filled up, when it became difficult to dig a hole without disturbing a grave, a new site was chosen. We would soon add more. There are now at least four sites that have become sacred and cannot be disturbed without loosing the mists of emotion still there.
There is the first plot with Susie, my mother's dog who died of distemper when I was too young to remember. Mother claimed I cried in her arms along with her as we watched her suffer and die. There's the plot near the back of the house with the pets of my childhood. There are the graves of my very first cats and dogs. The ground was once soaked with the tears of a lonely, young boy. There lies Frisky, my beagle who was killed by a car. I would not go to Heaven if she wasn't there, I avowed. Now, though, I am sure she is there, waiting, so I don't feel as sad anymore when I remember her.
There are the new sites now, where it was my turn to dig the holes; to shovel the soil and pick into the hard red shale, to trim them off square and deep. Where I watched my children suffer as their friends, wrapped in familiar cloth, were ritually laid to rest. My emotions were just as strong then, though I was grown, wise, desensitized by time. But, this time I mourned for the children who were learning about life and about the two edged sword of love. They filled the graves with tears and pieces of their hearts, as I did so many years before. We suffer our losses alone and can never really know the pain others feel for us. It is our own hearts that are wept empty. No support or empathy can fill that void when we put a dear friend in his grave.
We put an addition on the house. It was to extend over one of the grave yards. Many of my old friends would now be under the floor of the library. Since we are in a flood plain footings had to be dug. I wondered what might be disturbed. Once, I buried a hamster. I put him in a styrofoam box, glued the halves shut and covered it completely with rubber tape. I marked the spot and planned to some day dig it up and see what remained. When they were digging for the footings I watched. In one shovel scoop, out came the hamster's casket, exhumed after 25 years.
I cut the remaining tape and separated the two halves. There was nothing but dirt. Not a single hair or bone remained. It was now only a piece of buried trash. In my memory I can clearly see the animal in its quiet, final sleep when I put it in the casket. I remember feeling sad about its death even though it was just a rodent who'd had a very happy life. I remember looking down the row of graves of my dogs, my cats, my friends as I buried it. I wondered about them, but now I know for sure. From dust we've come and to dust we will return. "What awaits Man (and his loved ones), is worms."
But, no! That is not true. Man is not merely the animal. Man is that which dwells within, the Spirit and the soul. This temporal shell is not Me. It is just that, a shell, a vessel in which the Light has been placed to shine in this world. I am in the Light. The Light is in Me. I have known love's two edged sword. I have shed tears and pieces of my heart. I am truly Man.
I see the past. I still live it. I see the future. I go there. I move from place to place; from time to time in my mind, in the Spirit. I stand beside the grave of the dog who died so long ago. I stand at the grave of dog who stands with me now. I stand before my own grave, that dark, open maw that cannot hold me. I sit on the porch and watch the daffodils sprout from the dead animals' graves. The flowers peep up from the worm infested soil around the small memorial stone in the garden that beckons me to "Come Rest Here With Me Awhile."
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Thank you for sharing this article.thanks for reading
One positive thought, you lose me when describing your animals and names throughout. Your reference to stench covered by love is difficult to envision. You have a great message, I am glad I read through to get there.I edited since- thanks
Poor James, he got lost reading my story, then came over here and got lost in yours-We're going to have to try to rescue this man.-I, on the other hand wasn't lost for a moment- beautifully written, heartfelt story- enjoyed reading it- Always-Ellamy wife didn't like it either- 'purple', over wrought, she said- I edited some since- thanks
We have two of our beloved kitties under the spruce in the back of out home here. Interesting that they all made it until we had the place with 5 acres to begin going to "kitty heaven" - I am not looking forward to more joining them but suspect that they will. From the "mom" of 16 paws.... MarijoThanks- not my best- I just keep plugging away, too
I can't imagine burying that many pets, Jack. I have only lost one I was close to, but it was so hard to lose her. I am one who believes I will see her in heaven and that is a comfort to me. We currently have two dogs. One is 12 and every now and then I think about the probability of her death within a few years. No one likes to think about death, but it is a reality that our minds roam to now and then. Good article.Thanks, lorrie- all pets go to heaven
Thoughts well expressed, and it's really nice to see love for animals and birds when there are many on a killing spree. :-) I really enjoyed it. I like the last lines though, it's from light that well come from, and we shall merge with it again. :) (That's my view)
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