People seem to be divided into two categories – those who love pets and those that don’t.

Those who don’t love or have a pet, probably can’t understand why May is designated National Pet Month. But those who love pets are thinking “Why not?”

My grandson loves dogs and inherited this trait from his grandfather. They tolerate people but never met a dog they didn’t like.

It’s unfortunate, however, that this month, my grandson’s first dog, Tank, died.  Concerned about his emotional well-being over the loss, I wrote him the following letter:

Grandson,

I’m writing to you to say how sorry Grandpa and I are over the passing of your beloved dog, Tank.

Having been through this many times ourselves, we certainly understand that little can be said to make you feel better.  Mourning the loss of such a fun-loving, cuddly giant as Tank is perfectly natural.

We hate to see you so sad, but your feeling of loss is encouraging. It shows you have the capacity to love a living thing, appreciate its importance in your life, and know that things will be different without them.

Right now you are probably wondering how to fill that void in your life. You can start by always remembering the good times you had together. You should feel good that you played an important role in Tank’s quality of life, as he did yours.

After all, you began his life by giving him his name, and what an appropriate one it was. We quickly came to appreciate your insight as he got bigger and bigger and bigger.

You learned that living things have needs to be met – food, water, exercise and a decent place to go potty.

He was your constant companion when you turned 12 and spent your first summer home alone.

Not only was he your BFF (best friend forever), but he was the family guardian and let all strangers that dared to come too close to your home know that he was on sentry.

And now you have experienced the hardest part of all – the death of your first pet.  It seems cruel you must learn this lesson so early in life, but this is nature’s way of preparing us for the reality that no one lives forever.

But just as importantly, we learn we can go on with our life.  Not that you will ever forget Tank, but in time the heartache won’t be as intense.  Life will be different but not shattered.

You loved your first pet unconditionally, mourn his loss and will find that you can continue on despite the emptiness.  This is the lesson and flow of life.

Time will pass and you will soon realize that you will be happy again. You have proven that your heart is big enough to let another pet enter in, pass through and leave paw prints of memories behind.

I’m sure this will happen many times in your lifetime.

Love,

Grandma

My grandson chose to have Tank cremated, brought home and placed on a shelf in his room – a testimony to the powerful bond between pets and humans and a perfect explanation of why there is a National Pet Month.