Hi Catherine,

I know what you mean about signs.

The first lizards my Wife and I ever had were a pair of Bearded Dragons, Spot and Lilly. They went everywhere with us. We even took them on car rides. They would sit on the dashboard and bask in the sun They were great lizards and very friendly. When Spot was about 7 years old I noticed that he had a black beard for about 4 days in a row. I took him to the vet and they checked him out. When they were feeling his abdomen they found a lump. An X-Ray confirmed this to be a growth. They did exploratory surgery and found a tumor on his liver that had spread through his body. I was faced with a choice of giving him chemo, which would effectively make him toxic to us, or just leaving him be. They told me he had two months to live at best.

I decided not to go with the chemo but to treat him with herbal meds, acupuncture and Reiki. Our acupuncturist told us about a client of hers that practiced Reiki, so we asked her if she would see Spot and she agreed. The two of them really seemed to bond. At this point I should probably say that I am incredibly skeptical regarding non-traditional medicines and treatments but I wanted to give Spot a quality of life that I felt chemo drugs would not provide. On his first Reiki session Chris, the Reiki practitioner, told us that she could 'see' things Spot was thinking. She asked us if he had a swing. This sounded absurd, so I asked her why a lizard would have a swing. She said that he was showing her a picture of him in a swing, by some water. After she had gone, I started to think about what she had said and it suddenly made sense. Six years earlier, we had lived in an apartment that overlooked a lake. Spot and Lilly had a cage by the window. Inside the cage, suspended from the ceiling, were some hammocks. Spot and Lilly used to climb up into these hammocks, which would swing as they climbed into them, and look out at the lake. That was his swing by the water.

Over time Chris would tell us other things that she saw from Spot, none of which she could ever have known, until one day she told me that he had shown her a picture of him in a field, surrounded by flowers. Spot really liked edible flowers, the kind you put on salads. He hadn't eaten any in a while, so I thought he might want some. The next day, after work, I stopped at the supermarket and bought some edible flowers. When I got home I opened Spot's cage and put some in his bowl. He was in his basking spot, so I stroked his head and told him to come and get some flowers but he didn't move. I picked him up but he still didn't move. With tears streaming down my face I wrapped him in a blanket and drove as fast as I could to the vet, who confirmed that he had gone.

As I think about it now, the image of Spot in a field of flowers may have been his way of saying he was ready to go. In this field he was happy and at peace.

The next few days, even weeks, are definitely going to be painful. These little creatures certainly steal your heart and it always hurts me to read about a loss such as yours.

Give little Nalani lots of extra hugs from all of us.

Take care,
Mark

Hi Mark,

Thank you for telling me about Spot and Lilley. That is so sweet about them basking on your dashboard! They sound as though they were really fun company.
I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye to Spot when you did. It's interesting how the right people tend to appear when we need them and I'm glad you found Chris and Spot was able to benefit from the Reiki. How comforting that Spot was able to pass on pictures to you through Chris, and that you understood them. I don't know quite how it works but I used to do this and during all of the many readings I did the animals were able to pass on pictures which were quite specific to the owner. We all have these gifts though often it's easier to tune into other people's animals then our own as we know so much about our own animals. I think often animals are more at peace about their passing than we are. They see the bigger picture and value the love they are shown and can share, while they are here with us. That remains even once we have had to let go of their little bodies.

I was the same finding Kekoa on Friday morning, though I knew he had gone. I've just been to whisper goodnight to Nalani and had a few minutes holding Kekoa's little hand and talking to him through the tears. It's going to take a while to get over the regrets and shock, let alone the sadness, but I think I will bury him tomorrow.

Thanks again, and will pass on the hugs to Nalani.

Catherine