<\/a><\/p>\n

We need our dogs. I wonder if as humans we need to be needed. If we choose, we can learn a lot and gain a purpose outside of ourselves.<\/p>\n

I knew that my dog needed me, but what I didn’t consider was how much her needing me was a part of my every day existence. She needed extra time for eating and she required a lot of special attention. I guess I was limited at times because of her. In those moments, I didn’t see it quite like that. She needed me.<\/p>\n

She never complained. Dogs don’t. She never apologized either. She needed me. I would have chosen nothing else.<\/p>\n

Until. . .I couldn’t help her any more. I couldn’t be happy enough to make her happy. I couldn’t empathize enough to heal her. I couldn’t get rid of the pain that was deep inside her.<\/p>\n

I could let her need me for something far grander. A selfless gift of freedom from the fear that she carried in her. She needed me to give her wings. To free her from the physical realm to a place of peace. She would never be afraid again. She needed me now more than ever.<\/p>\n

Today, I can sense her peace. I miss her needing me. I miss everything about her. Now, she needs me again. She needs me to celebrate the life we shared and to know that she is free. . .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We need our dogs. I wonder if as humans we need to be needed. If we choose, we can learn a lot and gain a purpose outside of ourselves. I knew that my dog needed me, but what I didn’t consider was how much her needing me was a part of my every day existence. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gaylecousineau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}