Losing a pet is a very weird feeling. You feel like you can’t take a few days off work or uni, because it sounds so silly. You weren’t related to them, you didn’t know their thoughts or feelings on things, so the grief can be invalidated by those who've never owned pets. But losing a pet, particularly a pet you’ve grown up with, is incredibly painful. We got Chester shortly after he was born in 2007, when I was just 3 years old, and weirdly enough I was closer in age to him than any of my actual siblings.
the grief can be invalidated by those who've never owned pets
He was there to greet me at the door after my very first day of primary school, and didn’t stop greeting me until my second year of uni. He was there eyeing up every single piece of food I ever ate for 16 years (which at the time was incredibly annoying, but I sort of miss it now) and kept me *relatively* sane all throughout lockdown with 2 hour-long walks.
Our pets are our family, and losing them feels like it. Strangely, there was something sweet about it when he was gone. My family sat down at our table for hours talking about all the funny things he did (like the time he ate all of our cousin's easter eggs, left a *surprise* underneath our Christmas tree as a puppy or when he carried literal trees around in his mouth on walks).
Having such a loving pet for so many years is something to be incredibly grateful for. Lots of parents don’t want pets for the sheer pain their children feel when they lose them. But I’d go through the pain of losing him all over again if it meant I got to relive those 16 years, because as cringey as it sounds, love is never a waste of time. And on the plus side, I can finally eat sausages in peace without him glaring at me.
