My dog passed away in January 2007 and I’m not over her death yet. I felt like I lost my child. It was the most devastating experience of my life. I really believe it almost killed me. The thing is I feel like she was a soulmate. I love her dearly and I just want her back. I don’t want another dog again, I think I’m still waiting for her to come back to me. Was she my soulmate? Or am I just one of those people who fell so madly in love with another soul that I’m just assuming it was a special connection?
Thank you,
Jennifer
Dear Jennifer,
I’ve talked to many people who’ve had profound, soul-deep and life-changing connections with one or more animals in their lives. I number myself among them. And it’s often extremely hard to recover from the loss of one of these important companions.
However, since many people interpret “soulmate” to mean the equivalent of “twin flame” or “one true love,” I call critters, friends and family who are soul connections “soul family.” Your dog was definitely a member of your soul family, a blessed companion and, in many interesting ways, a teacher.
The good news is that your dog will come back to you. In my experience, important animal companions do that, sometimes several times in a person’s life, sometimes even changing gender or species, a cat returning later as a dog, and so on. But they always at least have habits and quirky character traits that were unique to their previous incarnation, and often similar coloration as well, so it’s usually easy to recognize that this is, indeed, your old friend returned to you!
The (sort of) bad news is that your dog says that she will return only as a companion to another dog which will come into your life first, and whether or not she even returns as a dog is not decided yet – but you’ll definitely know her when she shows up. Often these “destined” animals come to us on their own, as foundlings or gifts from friends, rather than waiting for us to go out and find them. It feels like this will be the case for you this time.
So, Jennifer, it’s time to open up your heart and make room for a new critter! Apparently this dog will be a new soul in your family, and may be there more for your old friend than for you, but it’ll be fun, funny and amiable, and will help lift your spirits as you wait for your fuzzy friend to return.
Brace yourself for some fun!
