Heavenly Dog

I took Connor to the park this afternoon- it was such a beautiful day here. While on the swings with his friend, Connor got very serious and asked,

"Mom, do you have to take Sammy to heaven?"

"Well Connor, I don't take her to heaven, angels will take her."

To which Connor replied, "Will they drive up in a car, to our house, to come and get her?" and "Can Sammy come back from heaven?"

Poor kiddo- our 13 year old pooch is in failing health, and we wanted to prepare Connor for the inevitable. We were all saddened and shocked with the death of our two cats last spring (Sascha-12, Mitzi-23), then Connor lost 13 koi from my parents' pond around the same time. He was devastated, so we thought it would be best to start talking to him about Sammy being very old, very ill, and that she will probably die soon, and what we believe happens after one dies. It was the right decision for our family- Connor is adjusting to the idea and it gives us a forum to discuss the circle of life. I know once Sammy goes it will still be sad, it will still be a loss, and it will still be painful to lose his buddy, but I am thankful that it will not be a total shock. And I can tell from Connor's questions, he is seriously thinking about all of the implications...will Dakota (our other dog) die? Is King (fish) going to die? Salem (cat)? This has allowed us to answer any of Connor's questions related to life and death and I am impressed with what he comes up with. Ultimatey, I'm thankful we can talk with Connor about this subject, and answer his questions as best we can.