The loss of a loved one is always hard to bear whether it be a beloved pet or a family member, although some would say that the two things are interchangeable. The image above shows Zak beside the cactus in our conservatory approaching Christmas 2017. Today, just two years later, a box containing his ashes sits beneath the same flowering cactus and he is gone.
‘Gone from our sight but never our memories
Gone from our touch but never our hearts’
Perhaps the loss of the person or animal is the hardest thing to bear. We can’t see or touch them anymore.
In my book, Waireka, ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=waireka+by+sheila+donald&crid=3ZNHWG32WOIC ) Eliza, my heroine faces the same physical loss, the loss of a beloved sister. Without giving too much away, I would like to include a passage from the book -:
“Murray told me what he had said to you. Of course, he had no idea of the impact such news would have on you or who Kitty was. He’s truly sorry for any distress he’s caused you’
‘That’s kind of him. But that won’t bring my beloved Kitty back, will it? Nothing will bring her back,’ and she burst into a fresh bout of sobbing” (Pg 181)
Whereas it is true that nothing can bring our beloved ones back to this earth, if we have a faith in God we can be assured that one day we will be reunited with them once again. Meantime, the comfort to us all can be that at Christmas we remember ‘Emmanuel’ or God with us. But an even greater comfort than this is to know that God can be with us not only today but everyday.
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