[QuickSilver]

Okay, this is kind of weird, but: I used to kind of be haunted by the thought of Thor's death. Like the fact that I will likely be there with him when he dies, I can't stand to picture it. Then a few weeks ago, I got pet insurance, and part of that process is deciding how much coverage to get. I opted for the max, which is $20K. Afterwards, I started to wonder what quality of life Thor would have if he had some kind of illness or injury that actually cost $20K. I kind of thought about opening a thread on it, but I didn't know how to word it.

I guess I want to say that death is not the worst thing that can happen. We have the luxury of choosing when our pets will die. It is in many ways an awful luxury, but at the same time, death is a natural part of life, and helping your pet "cross over" is one of the most loving things you can do.

Someone very close to me died a violent, tragic death, and for several years afterward, if someone had said the kind of thing I said above, I probably would have decked them. Grief is known in psychology as temporary insanity! So yes, it will be awful, and we will probably be inconsolable for some time, but we can look at it another way, and see our pets joining in the one experience that absolutely everything under the sun (including the sun!) undergoes. And yes, it makes it that much more important to enjoy them while they are here.

Hope that helps somewhat and is not too morbid.