Grief | Fightmsdaily

Happy halfway through the week. I hope you are having a great week and that it continues to improve. My class continues to go well, and I am learning so much. This past Monday, we had another instructor, and she was fantastic. The class has two instructors who share the duties. The instructor who taught the few classes was good, but her teaching technique made it harder to learn anything. I am excited the instructor we had on Monday will be with us for the next several classes, and now that I know what to expect from her, I look forward to our class on Thursday! I have been able to make friends with a couple of the girls in class, which will be beneficial if I get lost in the coursework. One of the ladies told me she was getting discouraged and thought about dropping the class, but I was able to change her mind and told her I would be there to help her along the way! I might try getting a study group together one weekend because I think several of us would benefit from a study group, especially before the final exam and the certification exam.

Peace lilies are given during difficult times of loss. These plants are meant to offer sympathy, symbolizing solace, and remembrance. According to gardening websites, a peace lily typically has one to two blooms growing on it. The peace lily can be relocated to an outside garden and live for three to five years, but when kept inside a home, it can live up to two decades. Peace lilies usually bloom in April and May but can continue growing and blooming until mid-Autumn. I have slowly been trying to increase the number of plants we have in our home for many years, and currently, we have seven inside our home that are flourishing. I think live plants can create a beautiful appearance and bring additional beauty to a home!

In 2009, we lost my husband’s grandfather. I am thankful I had the honor and privilege to get to know and love this man because he was one of the most loving and wonderful men who walked the earth. He was beautiful inside and out. He brightened the lives of anyone in his presence with love, kindness, and acceptance, which will stay in the hearts of all who knew him forever. After his funeral, officiated by a truly remarkable and gracious pastor who had been close to the family for decades, we were given a beautiful peace lily, which at the time had two blooms. I have made it my mission to care for this plant and keep it alive. Over the years, I have replanted the peace lily in a larger pot five times because it continues to grow. I know plants cannot live forever, but this peace lily holds much meaning and symbolism of my husband’s late grandfather.

Each year, I notice a new bloom appears on our peace lily. This year, our peace lily bloomed seven new blooms. I might be overly sentimental, but I believe each of the blooms represents a loved one lost. The first bloom symbolizes my husband’s late grandfather because we received the plant after his funeral. The other blooms represent my grandfather, my husband’s late grandmother, and our three cats that have passed away over the years. The three cats we lost in order of their passing were Lexi, Chloe, and Sundance. I did lose two other family members a few years ago, but I was not close to them, so one bloom on our peace lily can represent them. Again, I might be overly sentimental, but in my mind, this makes sense. It might be another way of holding onto those lost over the years, and with Sundance being gone for four months, I am still processing and dealing with the loss. I understand this might sound outlandish because how could a plant know when a loved one was lost? Of course, I believe that plants have feelings, and the more you care for them, the more they flourish.

The world we are living in can be beautiful with a touch of cruelty. With many extraordinary people living around the world, there is no reason we cannot all get along. We do not have to agree with everyone in every aspect of life, but we can be accepting and accommodating because we all have something brilliant to offer the world. There are too many people getting harmed because of nonsense, and others continuing to be discriminated against because of how they live THEIR lives. In 2024, why does anyone have a right to tell someone how they should live? The same people looking down on those they disagree with who they love, do they not disagree with people that lie, cheat, steal, abuse, and defile other humans because that is what causes harm? Or what about the people who harm innocent animals? There are many women, children, and animals abused in the world daily, but are the people who are condemning someone who is loving another doing the same to a person abusing the innocent?

Thank you for visiting my site today. I hope you enjoyed what I shared and found at least one thing I said interesting. The first part of the week is normally the most challenging, but we survived it, and the second part should be much easier. I am not sure how the weather is where you live, but where I live, it is TOO HOT! Even my crew of outside cats disappear during the day because it is too HOT. I continuously put fresh and cold water out for them, but it is unbearable. I look forward to reading your comments and will respond as quickly as possible. Please never forget I am always sending y’all LOTS of love❤️, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes🌈!

Always, Alyssa

Loss can distort our sense of time and may cause months or years to feel like only days. Although I am sadly aware our sweet cat Sundance passed away three months ago today, I remember every moment as clearly as it was yesterday. It is so hard to wrap my mind around the thoughts that three months ago, I had to witness him struggle in pain and take his final breath. Many have told me I did everything I could to take care of him, but I still feel like I failed him, and the image of his lifeless body haunts me. Sundance had a loving and pure heart and knew only love, kindness, and acceptance. Why did Sundance have to get an inoperable tumor on his lung, and why could the doctors not remove it and give him a donor’s lung? Why do bad things happen to innocent animals, but the vilest humans will continue living without issues? These issues hardly seem fair to me.

I know the way I am thinking about this loss is due to the continuous grief felt. The never-ending pain from losing our precious cat has been relentless, and his memories are in every part of the house and our hearts. I will always be thankful for our years with Sundance, and there will not be a day that passes that we will not miss him. For reasons I cannot fully explain, our house has an emptiness looming around because this little cat consumed much of the house and our hearts. Even though it has been three months since he passed away, I continue to expect his presence to be waiting when I get home, and although he is not there physically, I can feel the love, kindness, and magical parts of him that will never fade.

I cannot explain my reasons, but I blame myself for not saving his beautiful life. Of course, I realize I did everything I could to keep him comfortable and loved, but I am not sure that was enough. I might not be able to keep my emotions in check, but I know no human being can stop death from occurring because it is part of life. Mortality is not easy to accept and understand, but it will happen to all of us. Our mortality is much different than that of an innocent animal, or at least it is for me. Animals are one of the only creatures in this world that are purely innocent and deserve more than most receive. Animal cruelty does not make sense to me, and how anyone could ruthlessly kill their pet is a form of narcissism and evilness that is beyond shameful.

Thank you for visiting my site today. I do not typically do more than one post daily, but this one is an exception because Sundance should always be remembered, and never forgotten. I am thankful Sundance lived a happy life and was treated with love and respect. My husband and I do not have two-legged children, but we treat our cats like they were our children and may even treat them better than some treat their children. Of course, I even treat the outside feral cats with much love and kindness because I do not think they receive it from anyone else, which makes me sad. I hope your day goes well, and you can appreciate how I feel about the loss of our cat, but hope you never go through anything like this. Please never forget I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and MANY positive vibes!