Toby and I buried Cuddles yesterday evening,

[JMCKUSICK]

I'm so very proud of Toby, he communicated so incredibly well his feelings yesterday as he said good bye to Cuddles.

His usual emotional range consists of ho hum and frustrated anger when things don't go well.

I kept Cuddles for him so he could hold him as he said good bye, and when he was ready, I helped bury him in a place we both agreed on behind our trailer in the wooded area.

We sobbed, we wailed out wish that we have just a little more time with Cuddles, and how much we miss him already.


When we finished, I asked him if he would be ok if I said a prayer for us and Cuddles and he surprisingly accepted and we held hands as I asked God for Cuddles deliverance.
We prayed that Cuddles could bring joy to many while he waited for us, we prayed that he found Snuggles and all his friends that preceded him, and we prayed that he find Toby again in his next life, sort of like A Dog's Journey.

I promised Toby that Cuddles would find him again, in a new body and that he will know.

Petunia replaced my Pookie, and while different animals, she brought so many of the same qualities. Both would spend their lives on my lap if they could lol, and both just treasured wrapping themselves around my head at bedtime, every night and more.

Shadow not only looks like Snuggles, but also acts very much like her, Food insecure, not very lappy, but very much at my feet, just like Snuggles, and the best part is that I get to love them better than the ones before, because they taught me so much.

If I could suggest anything, it would be that we talk to our pets, our friends, our families and thank them for their place in our lives, to tell them often not just that we love them, but how much we need them and value them. I started doing that with Cuddles and Petunia after Snuggles died so suddenly, and nothing was really left unsaid with Cuddles for me.

I don't know if it's true, but I feel all my rescues have been extraordinary in that they seem to understand that they've been given a new life, and at least in my case, whether Pookie, Snuggles, Mufasa, Petunia and Cuddles, they all seemed to show it in their actions on a daily basis.

I'll close with how I finished my conversation with Toby last night after everything was done.

I told him that thousand of people had felt his loss, that his Cuddles was world famous as I'd been writing about him for almost two years, and many many many people were sending their love and well wishes to him too.

I joke that Cuddles learned to walk from Mufasa, his surrogate cat Dad, as he walked around like he owned the place, like a movie star. Cuddles was loved in the neighborhood and walked around like he knew it.

I'm so glad.