A funeral for Doodles

I woke Matt up at 8 o'clock before taking his brothers to school. When I came back home to take him to school he was still asleep, so I woke him up again and went downstairs, holding my breath, waiting to hear his voice to know wether he had looked into the hamster cage or not. Tentatively I prepared his breakfast and packed his lunch.

Matt came down as I watched for signs of discovery. He seemed fine as I handed him his breakfast, then he remarked that he was concerned about the Dood who had not changed position since last night. I took a deep breath, gripped myself, and whispered "I'm so sorry." Matt knew what I was saying and fell into a crumpled little heap. I held him , he cried and he said all the things that we say when we lose a loved one. He wanted to know how I knew, and when I told him that I checked on the Dood in the early morning and that he was not breathing, Matt sobbed harder. He wanted to know "Why?" He wondered to me if there had been anything that he had done, or anything he could have done to prevent the Dood from dying. I gently reminded Matt that the Dood was old for a hamster and that Matt had been a great boy for him. Matt asked if we could bring the Dood to the vet for an autopsy so he could find out why the Dood died. I reassured him that he had not caused the Doods death. He said that if he had known the Dood was going to die so soon he would have "treasured the moments that they had together" more.

He asked what we would do with the Dood's body and I told Matt that it was his choice. I offered up a little box I had selected this morning for the Dood. Matt insisted we paint it black and then he insisted that he be the one who place the Dood inside it. So that is what we did. Matt had a Saint Christopher(?) medal taped to the Dood's tank. He got it when I photographed an animal blessing at a local church. On that day, two years ago Matt had put the Dood into a little carrying case, accompanied me on assignment, and had the Dood blessed. Matt thought that medal kept the Dood safe, and he taped it onto the black box so that it would continue to protect him. We discussed locations around the yard where not only would the Dood be safe from the Devil Dog but where we could also plant some special flowers for him in the spring.

Then we went to the pet store where Matt picked out a stone to lay on the burial sight. It reads "Here lies a faithful friend and companion." We picked up some flowers and now all that needed to be done is digging the hole and the funeral itself.

Matt wanted to wait for Evan and Josh to be home from school for the funeral, so we waited.  I knew that Evan would be full of sorrow and guilt, wondering wether or not the fall last month had anything to do with the Doods demise.  I knew that helping in whatever way he could would be meaningful to Evan.  After I picked him up, we came home and started digging the hole.  Evan and I made a hole about a foot and a half deep, just inside the fenced in back yard where Devil Dog would be shocked by her electric fence if she attempted to mess with the body.

When we were finished we called Matt and Josh, and had a lovely ceremony.  Matt wanted to place the "casket" into the hole, and he did.  Then Matt spoke of Doodles being like both a son and a brother to him.  He said the only thing different he would have liked is more time with the Dood.  I told how reluctant I was to let a critter into the house, and never expected to love a critter like Dood, who was as sweet and as gentle as Matt.  Evan was sobbing too hard to talk, and Josh wanted to talk, but wisely bowed out when he couldn't think of anything to say.  We took turns scooping the dirt back into the hole, as is Jewish tradition, and then placed the stone and the flowers on top.  We all went back inside and I found Matt to give him a hug.  He said he was happy with the ceremony and that he thought it was beautiful.  He always amazes me with how grown up he is.

Comments

[Margaret]

What a heartwrenching, but beautiful experience. Experts say that children(and adults)learn huge life lessons from animals. We have had several parakeet funerals in our backyard.

[Angela]

Awww...our family lost a beloved pet last May. Bunny, my big gray kitty who I'd had for 12 years. Bubba was very close to her, and he took it pretty hard. She is "buried" in my folks' backyard (long story) and sometimes when we go there, he'll stop by her gravesite to say hi while he's playing outside. God, I love that boy.

[danelle]

Gawd, I could not get perspective on that picture! After blowing it up I see that it is sideways, I'm so *not* artsy.

[VenturaMom]

Very sweet post. The Dood sounds like he was a great hamster.