Two deaths

We claim to love our pets almost as much as we love our families.   Yet when old age, illness, or injury reduces life to nothing but pain, we are not willing to give our family members the same relief from pain that we give our pets.

My grandfather was old and sick.   Nobody in the family could take care of him, so he was put into a care facility (at great cost).   The last time I saw him alive, he didn't recognize me, or other members of the family. He died alone.  I cried for him at his funeral, when he was already cold and his body was in a box.


My dog was old and sick, she had heart problems and cancer of some kind.  I reached a point where I could no longer take care of her, and she was spending most of her life in pain.  I took her to the vet, and held her in my arms as she quietly went to sleep, and her heart slowed down and stopped.  I cried as this happened, and one of her last acts was to try to lick the tears off of my face.

Which of those two died knowing that I loved them?

Which of these deaths would you prefer for yourself?