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| Sunday, 28 November 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Coping with the loss of a pet Little Janith ran home soon after school. But 'Inky' was not there to greet him as usual. "Where's Inky?", Janith asked his mother who was waiting for him near the door. When he saw the tears in her eyes, he felt that something was wrong. "Where's Inky?", screamed Janith, running to the backyard where he plays with Inky every evening. There he found the lifeless body of his best friend and the pet dog in the family. While Janith was grieving because he lost his best buddy, his parents worried as to how the dog died even after taking such good care of it. Not only kids even adults find it difficult to handle the death of a pet. But, what we should realise is that despite the best of care we give, inevitably the time will come when we have to say goodbye to our dear friend. There is no doubt that as kids we need so much courage and knowledge to handle such a situation. We have to understand that life eventually comes to an end. It might sound like a trivial thing but such an experience can actually be a good opportunity for us to learn how to properly express our feelings. If you are strong enough to face it, help your little siblings or even your parents to overcome the situation. Tell your younger siblings the truth and be there for them and acknowledge their sadness. If you have taken good care of your dear pet don't ever feel guilty over its death because it might not have anything to do with you or anyone in the family. If you treated your pet well and it was a healthy pet you can be happy for the good life you gave it. As you begin to come to terms with the loss of your dear friend, you probably feel you don't ever want to go through those feelings again. "How could another pet ever duplicate the joy we had with our departed pet," you will ask. Actually it can't. No other pet could ever come close to replacing the deceased pet. It is disrespectful to even assume that a new pet could replace the old one. But, a new pet will relate to you in new and unique ways. It will have its own personality, mannerisms and habits. It will find profoundly different ways to endear itself to you. But, wait a while. Because if you don't wait, you may take home a pet on impulse and end up with the wrong pet for you. The new pet would sense your disappointment and not be comfortable or happy. - Chamitha Kuruppu |
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