Grandpa missing his grandchild and meditation

Algie, Grandpa

Butty, Grandson of Algie

We can't explain to him where his grandchild called Butty has gone, he just knows he isn't here.  He, Algie is crying quietly on the sofa!  He comes up and puts his head on my knee and looks mournful.  After all, he and Butty  have lived together for nearly 4 years which is as old as Butty  now is.  We know that it is jolly sad when you don't see your children and the grandchildren you love but it isn't so bad for us as it is for the dogs because we aren't expecting to see them all the time, we have already let them out of our sight and we know because of Skype and FaceTime that we can be in touch with them anytime if we or they want to hear or see us.  But that option isn't open to Algie, and nor can we tell him where Butty is and why he isn' here, we can't tell him  that Butty is on his way to the vet to have an operation.  We can't tell him  that Butty also cried all  night, separated from his nearest and dearest.  The grief Algie is feeling comes from the not knowing and I suppose that for us, because we know that those Singapore, Dubai and Jakarta babes are fine and we are in touch with what is happening to them, we can rest easy.  The once-in-a-spaceship-now-living-at home tiny baby lives so near that we see her often and we know she is fine.  The grief that any grandparent, canine or human feels for their grandchild comes when there is a disjoint and like poor old Algie, the grandpa doesn't know where or how the grandchild is, what he or she is going through, what he or she is thinking.  Now that grief is the sort which preys on you, wakes you up with a start of missing a person, with an anxiety for their welfare, it is for that reason that Algie keeps being reminded of Butty's absence.  

We have the meditation option but Algie doesn't, although he knows about it and must feel something of its quiet peacefulness when he and Butty join us in the morning for our half hour meditation.  We meditate and they lie stock still until 30 minutes is up and then they spring into action.  They absolutely know half an hour when it is up and it is time to go out.

meditation hut

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