Freedom

Bank Swallows gleaning insects over a lake.

"Can we love what will swallow us when we are gone?
I do."
-Linda Hogan

I recently came across a series of photos that I took several years ago.
I took them the day after we said our farewells to our last companion, a beautiful and spunky German Shorthaired Pointer named Phoebe.

The loss we both felt was so very raw and our home felt so damn empty with her gone. She had been by my side through the worst of days as I recovered from ocular myositis and later on, a widowmaker heart attack. Like all of our companions, she was a constant presence in my life and I was completely inconsolable after the vet left our home with our sweet girl wrapped in one of her favorite blankets. We had spent the past year trying to save her from cancer and although she fought like a tiger, the cancer eventually spread. We simply could not allow her to suffer any longer. Her quality of life was our responsibility, as was the decision to let her go. That decision never comes easy.

Seeking some type of solace, we hopped in our jeep and drove over to one of the many inland lakes near us. We had the access to ourselves, so we walked over to the water and sat on a long dock. I heard the sound of chittering birds and before long, the air around us was filled with beautiful Bank Swallows gleaning insects over the lake surface. Swallows are such masters of flight, turning on a dime and soaring through the air so effortlessly with grace.

The word that stuck in my mind as I watched their aerial ballet was freedom. The swallows were so gloriously free and untethered.
Just like our sweet girls’ spirit. Devoid of all pain, and unencumbered by sorrow or regret.
A pure and effortless flight into the void. A void where surely all of those who have departed, forever treasured and remembered , are bathed in the sweet sweet light of everlasting love.