Remembering

It is with probable measure that each of us will endure the experience of loss, and the cycle of life and death. 
With Halloween and the Day of the Dead just past and Remembrance Day approaching, we are in a time where our thoughts are filled with associations and connections to those who are in Spirit form, while we vacillate between the memories of the heart and the emotions that still overwhelm and grip us. 
Two days ago I found my son's cat, Midnight, hanging by his paws that had frozen to the steel bar above the livestock drinker. It was bitterly cold and a distressed and weak meow had caught my attention while feeding calves. Thawing his paws with warm water, we eventually unstuck him and I brought him inside, putting his shivering body against my chest. At first I wasn't even sure he would pull through, but within a few hours he had stopped shivering and was now writhing in pain from the thawing process. His right back leg was the worst and remained cool to the touch. The kids got home from school and were presented with what had happened to Midnight. We prepared them for all the possible outcomes, as much as you can prepare someone for death or the possibility of losing his leg. What I didn't find out until this morning was that the very same day, a friend of mine had actually lost her horse that very same day. And what I came across this morning, just prior to finding out about the loss of my friend's horse, was a beautifully written piece about loss, death and choices ... http://www.listentoyourhorse.com/rewilding-the-herd-last-n…/
In my sharing with my friend, she spoke of hearing about the loss of one of my mares a few years ago, Carmelita. I lost Carmelita during the birthing process of her daughter Karma. Even when death is expected, as in old age, there still remains the vast array of both expected, and often, unexpected emotions that surface. When death is tragic, there is almost always the question of WHY?? Why did this happen?
Having lost my first horse in a very tragic accident when I was 10 year old, and countless other humans and animals through the course of my 38 years, I have come to understand that each time a loved one of ours- be it human, animal or plant- is lost (my one daughter still cries when someone cuts down a living tree)... there is an opportunity that by default becomes availalbe to us; to find something greater that lies within us, waiting like a seed to emerge.  
And I am not trying to sugarcoat death, by any means... but from what I have witnessed, when we allow ourselves to feel all that comes with loss, there is a re-kindling of something within us that may never have risen to the surface of our human self had we not experienced that loss.
That "something" is a remembering. And with that remembering, comes our own unique connection to a piece of us that we had either forgotten about, or had "misplaced". 
Even little Midnight is still not out of the woods regarding the loss of his leg. There have been many conversations in our house regarding each person's perspective on what to do with Midnight But when my friend reminded me this morning of losing my horse Carmelita, her wisdom seemed very relevant to share today. 
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From the Horse Wisdom Revelations: Carmelita's message ~ 
to VALUE ~ the discovery of self is found through the unending repertoire of opportunities encountered, designed to unleash the existential collection of extremes and opposites that have gathered within us as a means of contriving to withstand the role of caretaker of the planet and all within it. Let all who call out to us in desperation find the direction that they seek, if not by our wisdom then by the nature of our demeanour.