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Good Friday

When I grew up, Good Friday was always one of those days on the religious calendar that my family would go to church at noon and be in a somber mood for three hours. No phone, no electricity. No eating meat. Just taking it easy and remembering the hours between noon and 3 p.m., when the religious commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus during that time.

Today during that time was a similar chronology for Dessie and her son and me as we took her dog Shelby to be euthanized. She was an old dog and had horrible arthritis, and Dessie's family's impending move to a fifth-floor townhouse apartment would have made it impossible for Shelby to continue to live with her human companions. So, Dessie did what had to be done. We'll miss this family friend. Dessie keeps saying Shelby was a good dog and loved us all.

I had a friend out in Colorado, Christie, who died in January. She and I talked on the phone for hours on end, on several occasions, about the subject of death. Calling her was a natural thing to do when my last natural grandparent died, because I knew she would have some consoling words for me. She definitely did. Likewise, last year and into this year, I had planned on making her the first phone call I would make when I received the inevitable news of Aunt Rose's passing. That changed when Christie up and died of breast cancer in January, preceding Aunt Rose in death. So, Christie and I couldn't speak over the phone, as I had planned, when Aunt Rose died a month later.

However, I think having known Christie, and having had those conversations we had before, made it a lot easier to deal with Aunt Rose's death. And I saw a signal a few times today that made me think of Aunt Rose. Looking for signals is something I never did until Christie told me to be on guard for them. But it was definitely there, this iguana that I associated with Aunt Rose. And because of this, I told Dessie that either Aunt Rose was taking care of Shelby now or Christie was. Christie was a dog person for sure, and Aunt Rose was an animal person.

For those with faith, the Good Friday story ended happily three days later when their friend Jesus was said to have risen from the dead. Those who had faith back then said, "Yeah, that's just like him." Those who didn't have faith said, "Rose from the dead? Impossible. Show me the proof." I guess now, dealing with a dog's death, the leap of faith is that there are other people now taking care of that dog. Shelby just has new friends now, and they're taking great care of her. And she actually has a full tail now, not just half of one (I'm not sure why that's all she had here).