Loss has a way of etching itself into memory. Sometimes it’s not just the moment of loss itself, but the way it wraps around everything else, forever changing how we see the world.

One of my earliest memories is not a joyful one. I was just four years old, growing up on a farm, shut away in a dark room for over a week with the measles. When I was finally allowed back outside, I burst through the door and ran straight to the front stoop, calling out the name of my little rescue dog. “Tuffy!”

There was no answer.

That’s when my mother gently told me the truth. Tuffy, my mottled brown pug mix with a heart bigger than her body, had been killed by another dog while I was sick. I cried all night. At four years old, I learned one of life’s hardest lessons: sometimes love is real, deep, and unconditional, and still, we lose it.

That moment stayed with me. It shaped how I connected with animals, how I understood grief, and how I came to see pet loss not as something small or trivial, but as something profound and deeply human.

Over the years, I have loved and lost so many fur, fin, and feathered friends. It is never the same, and it never gets easier to accept.

This space was created for others who have walked the same path. Whether your loss is recent or long ago, whether you’re preparing to say goodbye or still carrying the weight of one, your story matters.

Please feel welcome to share your experience in the comments. Your voice might be just what someone else needs to hear today.

You are not alone.