Preparing for the blow

by | Friday | November 27, 2009 | 28 comments

As I’m assembling items for the holiday gift guide, it occurred to me that I am going to have to get a Christmas stocking for Brody. I always have stockings for my pets- and with 4 pets plus 4 people, we pretty much took up the entire mantel.

On the heels of yesterday’s post, it kind of sucker punched me yet again to think of what is going to happen when I open the box with all my pet stockings and stocking holders. Of the 4, I will have to pull three out. Three that I have lovingly hung and stuffed with treats for 6 years, 7 years, nine years. Putting one aside is hard enough, but this is going to really stink. And I have no idea what to do with them- reusing one for Brody is out of the question.

I don’t want to keep them or put them up as some sort of morbid reminder of what I lost, yet the thought of just throwing them out won’t work either. I guess I could keep them and make myself cry every year when I open the storage box (my husband is not a fan of this option) or at least until I can get over it and toss them. This is a tough one.

Filed: Daily Life
  • wikith

    I am saving the stockings from our passed-on kitties and will be using them someday in a quilt I am planning made from some of my favorite items of clothing/blankets/etc down through the years – like my 4-H T-shirt, my baby blanket, and a shirt given to me by a friend who is no longer with us. They are in that box deep i my closet, so I don’t need to look at them and get all weepy except when another item is retired, but someday they will be immortalized along with other fond memories.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      That’s a perfect idea. I wish I knew how to quilt. :/ lol.

  • http://annora.wordpress.com/ Tassia

    You should separate them from your other stocking, put them in their own box. That’s what my mom did when Minx passed away, and now Baby. She still has them, but they’re tucked away.

    We gave away Ziggy’s food dishes to a friend who adopted a new dog and bought new ones for Chewy, but we kept Ziggy’s toys. Chewy plays with them now, they’re the only ones she hasn’t destroyed. I think she knows.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I don’t mind Brody using some of the things, but stockings are really personal to me. I like your idea of saving them separately, for now.

  • http://dearprudie.wordpress.com Ashley

    I really like the quilt idea that Wikith talked about. I think tossing the stockings would be just as hard as seeing them year after year. I’m a huge fan of doing some sort of art project when you need to release an emotion or work through a problem. Maybe a piece of the stockings could be used in an art piece somehow, or a scrapbook.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I have time to think about it- definitely like the quilt idea.

  • mrs.brent

    Treena’s old stocking has been in a box since she passed, I can’t bring myself to look at it. It’s hard enough thinking about her or seeing pictures.
    Missy’s stocking got lost in the move last year, so we’ll have to get her a new one, and we adopted Murphy in May of this year so he’ll need one. I love Christmas.

  • http://thepailriderssaloon.blogspot.com/ heather

    Bear and Bella’s stockings will be filled with treats this year and dropped off at the local animal shelter.

  • Kristie

    Maybe you could stuff them full of yummy treats and drop them off at the shelter? Have them save them for you to pick up, and you (and your kiddos) could make it a special thing every year to pick out treats for the stockings and drop them off together?

  • Chile

    I’ll never part with Blade’s. It doesn’t have his name on it, it’s just a Rottie in a Santa hat. I still hang it up as decoration but I don’t fill it for Cookie.

    Don’t get rid of them though. You can put them in a separate box so you don’t have to be weepy every Christmas, but I wouldn’t get rid of them. They are plenty of things you can do with them (like the memorial quilt and other artsy projects).

  • Heather

    After my 18-yr-old cat passed away, I cut the top off his stocking where his name was, added a gold ribbon, and now use it as a Christmas tree ornament. He used to love climbing up in the branches and batting all the decorations onto the floor, so it seems like a happy way to remember him.

  • Megumi

    I also vote for a separate box and keeping them – that is what we did today as the unpacking process began. I am also going to get a new tree skirt, as I cannot see the one we have without a fuzzy Winston head burrowed between presents. There were all sorts of cat hair and fuzzies on various Christmas items, it was a hard day.

  • Pikachu

    So sorry for the sad thoughts at this time of year …for everyone …,…………I had lost Zack this time several years ago.. He was a beautiful Nova Scotian Duck Toller.
    Dr V , I also vote for you to keep the items in a separate box until you feel its time , dont throw them away , the quilt is a wonderful idea or even a small wall hanging .It may seem weired and sad at first but it takes time.
    I couldnt help but tear up when reading your posts. Sorry

  • http://www.drowningondryland.com Kymba

    Variation on the artsy thing – incorporate the face of their stockings into a new tree skirt. That way they’ll still be close to the presents! And maybe a little less daunting of a project than a quilt.

    *hugs* It does suck. I hate opening that one particular 18gal storage container every year for the same reason. I always make sure to have a good bottle of wine on hand.

    • Chile

      I like this idea!

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      That I could do. That is a nice idea.

  • Emily

    Save the stockings. It might feel too painful to you now to see the old toys and belongings but in a few years you will see be able to see and touch them and smile as memories flood back. Eventually the sharpness of the loss subsides enough that those objects will be cherished reminders of happy times.

  • macula_densa

    What I was going to say has already been said. Keep them… somewhere else. Keep them somewhere that you can access but won’t stumble upon accidentally — somewhere away from the ones in use every year. Then, maybe some day when you learn to quilt they’ll be there for you. :-)

  • http://annora.wordpress.com/ Tassia

    The biscuits got here today at the same time I got the Brody calendar. Pretty awesome, Chewy loves the treats.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Oh yay!!

  • Georgia Jewel

    I am having the exact same problem with stockings and with calling Shorty the best dog ever. I still miss my babies even thoug I adore my currents ones.

  • Autumnhound

    You could always take all of his things, have a small memorial fire, and then you could tuck the little package of ashes in with Emmett’s ashes. Seperately packaged, of course.

    I know if I tried the quilt idea, I wouldn’t be able to finish it because of the tears. But a small pyre….I could live with that. That way I could weep and say goodbye without stabbing myself in the hands with a needle.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Maybe I can let someone *else* make the quilt! :D

  • Lisa W

    Uh-oh. I hadn’t thought of this yet. And next weekend will be the time. Some of these ideas are really nice – I have no idea what I’ll do with Bailey’s stocking. Dr V, I can’t imagine having to face three of them… {{{hugs}}}}

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      I’m unpacking very, very slowly.

  • r

    I am pretty sure that there are companies that will make quilts if you submit t shirts, your desired fabric, etc. A quick google search had this company come up as the first link – http://www.bluebirdgardens.com/?page=custom+quilts+guide – but i am sure there are others.
    holidays are so hard, last november we put down my boxer mix (my childhood dog), the worst was not having her around to ferociously sniff all the presents on christmas morning (she could always tell which ones were hers). good luck with your unpacking.

    • http://www.pawcurious.com Dr. V

      Oh, right in November last year? That must have been hard.

  • Father Daniel Beegan

    I have four urns carrying the ashes of four faithful Newfoundland dog friends. I don’t obsess over them. I have a live Newf who demands my attention.

    But the four that preceeded her all had their own personalities, quirks and ways of showing love, as does Maeve the wonder dog.