Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio > Quotes

“Remember, your deep sadness reflects the intensity of your love for your departed friend. Your friend lived richly as the recipient of your great love. And”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“Remember, your deep sadness reflects the intensity of your love for your departed friend.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“Each brought me joy, each taught me something about the nature of love, and each left me struggling through the journey of grief. For all the sorrow that these losses brought, however, I’ve never regretted sharing my life with any one of these souls. As that wise woman promised so many years ago, love proved worth its cost every time.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“we’re drawn to companion animals by their absolute innocence. These are beings who present themselves exactly as they truly are—no pretense, vanity, or self-consciousness.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“we inevitably pay for our love with grief— “inevitably” because all relationships end. She also promised that love proves to be worth its cost every time.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“it may help to actively acknowledge each memory that brings sadness by saying a few words out loud “to” your lost pet: “[Your pet’s name], thank you for being such a wonderful friend, for being there in the morning and making me smile. I’ll never forget you.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“you may plan to devote five minutes every Monday evening to remembering, by either saying out loud or writing in a journal, one of the lessons you learned from your deceased pet, or something about them that you’ll always remember.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“our animal companions give their complete devotion. Kindness offered and kindness returned: a unique equation in the formula of love. Unique, because the devotion we receive from our pets never suffers the shortcomings of human love, such as cynicism, manipulation, and unfaithfulness. Instead, their unconditional love remains constant.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“In that moment some time from now, you’ll know that to have loved so fully means you have received one of the most special gifts that life grants us.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“The extraordinary emotional and physical closeness that we enjoy with our pets creates a rare degree of intimacy. Also, our relationship with a pet stands alone in its simplicity. We never suffer unfaithfulness, manipulation, or major conflict. There were no arguments, periods of estrangements, and dramatic reconciliations with your deceased pet. The relationship was consistent, predictable, and reliable to a degree rarely achieved in our relationships with other people. When you lose”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“My parents treat death as just another part of life.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“the loss of a pet results in extraordinary grief because they helped us through an extraordinarily difficult time in our lives or”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“We may experience an almost telepathic degree of understanding. In addition to this emotional closeness, many of us experience a degree of physical closeness with our pets that goes well beyond what we share with most of the people in our lives.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“I stay calm and just kind of take the loss in stride as a part of life.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“Whatever the circumstances of your friend’s death, you deserve to remind yourself that human beings have limitations. We can’t foresee the future in order to make sure we’re in the right place at the right time, and we can’t fix every twist of fate that places our friend in harm’s way, and we regularly make unfortunate mistakes. Finally, we deserve to remind ourselves that we never intentionally cause harm to our loved ones.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“When Phoebe died a piece of me went along with her. Nothing had prepared me for the depth of sadness that followed her passing. Until that time, I had no idea that losing an animal friend could hurt so much.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“Remind yourself that grief brings unreasonable second-guessing. Begin anew with a reality check about all that you did for your friend: you loved your pet, you did everything you could to make their life a good one, and you deserve to remember those things instead of berating yourself with a list of would-should-could-haves with no connection to reality.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“Allow yourself to cry. Welcome the emotion as evidence of how much you loved your friend. When you calm down, congratulate yourself for managing your grief with such respect for your own feelings.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“As I looked at the photos, it occurred to me that I was smiling. At last I could remember Lily and smile. I felt the pull of sadness, too, and some tears came, but they were tears of gratitude for having had her in my life. My grief had done much of its work.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“The extraordinary emotional and physical closeness that we enjoy with our pets creates a rare degree of intimacy. Also, our relationship with a pet stands alone in its simplicity. We never suffer unfaithfulness, manipulation, or major conflict. There were no arguments, periods of estrangements, and dramatic reconciliations with your deceased pet. The relationship was consistent, predictable, and reliable to a degree rarely achieved in our relationships with other people.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“many people see pets as ornaments that exist solely for the amusement of people, rather than living beings, similar to you and me.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“owed so much to the way she stood by me and loved me.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“You can aid the healing by trying whenever possible to claim a positive understanding of the experiences through which grief brings you.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“With our pets, however, intimate bodily care continues throughout their lives and, because we can never exchange words, our intuitive bond continues to grow. As”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“It may be helpful to include a brief ritual to both honor your deceased friend and contain the time you devote to sadness.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“When you’re going through hell, keep going.” These words carry special meaning now. It helps to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward even when every fiber of your being resists. While it may feel difficult on some mornings, you will always feel better after getting out of bed and completing your usual habit of showering, grooming, and dressing in preparation for the activities of the day. And”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“recreate the routine of their dog or cat sleeping in or next to their bed by purchasing life-size stuffed animals and placing them where their pets used to sleep.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“some people may offer only time-limited support, becoming less understanding after a week or two. You have a right to grieve for as long as you need.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“the death of a pet has torn their heart open like no previous loss,”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion

“you may plan to devote five minutes every Monday evening to remembering, by either saying out loud or writing in a journal, one of the lessons you learned from your deceased pet, or something about them that you’ll always remember. Maybe, you’ll simply spend those minutes silently recalling what it felt like to be in their company.”
― Ken Dolan-Del Vecchio, The Pet Loss Companion