from The Aquarian, Spring 2000When Only Love Remains
The Pain of Pet LossBy Emily Margaret Stuparyk
General Publishing Co Ltd, 1999
Reviewed by Kristi Dorian
240 pages, hardcoverThe loss of a pet can be devastating, and our healing paths can take many different turns.
Often our first encounter with pet loss occurs as we are growing up. When Fluffy dies, we are told she is in "hamster heaven" where there is no suffering and Fluffy can scamper happily through the woods. Of course, we eagerly accept this explanation, solemnly conduct a funeral with all our friends in attendance (shoebox, procession, hole in the back yard), cry our eyes out, and then move on. As children we experience the loss on a purely emotional level. Only as we grow older do we ponder our role in an animal's life and death.
When adults lose an animal companion, the trauma is just as real, the anguish just as heartfelt. But there is also a more mature process of reflection. Why did Max die? Could I have done anything differently? Where (if anywhere) is his spirit now? Though we may cry once more like children, seldom do we share.
In When Only Love Remains, Winnipeg poet Emily Stuparyk freely shares the pain of her own pet loss. Through poems that allow us to glimpse her rabbit Poochie's spirit and personality, she evokes pictures in our minds of our own losses. The whole gamut of emotions and stages of grief are to be found in Stuparyk's words. An elementary school teacher, Stuparyk reminds us that it is okay to grieve for the not quite human being that has blessed our lives. She encourages us to tell our stories to others, to share in the pain and in the healing.
Stuparyk's poems are elegantly presented in this small, 240-page hardcover book. It's an admirable addition to any pet owner's library.
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