A Lifelong Friend

I've been looking through old photos and came across this wonderful trio from when my son was a baby, and then this last one from an autumn trip to the beach. Sabre has truly been a lifelong friend to my kids. Things are getting easier, a day at a time, but we will be missing him for a long time. The weather has gotten sunnier this week, a big improvement from the sleet, hail, and freezing rain of the last ten days. We can be outside more and everything looks brighter, even emotionally, when the sun is shining.

Last night, I had a dream that left me strangely reassured. I was walking by a park with the kids, someplace we had never been before. Steve Irwin was standing on the corner of the sidewalk and the kids recognized him and ran over to him saying "You're not dead! You're alive!" over and over. He shook his head and said that he really was dead, and at that point the kids started crying. He said "No worries, I just came here to tell you that I'm with all the animals and they're just fine."
He gave me a hug and everything was so vividly real - touch and smell and sight seemed just like real life. I woke up feeling very peaceful and well-rested, for the first time in over a week, and the sense of peace has stayed with me all day. If there really is an animal heaven, I would love to believe that Steve Irwin is up there looking over them all and keeping them company. They would be in good hands with such a wonderful soul as his.