Let’s create a place to cry
This piece is an original knit made from a photo of my beloved dog Mukku, who has now passed away.
This is embarrassing to say, but I built this altar a few years after I lost my beloved dog.
At the time, few people decorated altars for their pets, and related products tended to have a dark image.
So we didn’t do anything special, just displayed photographs and sorted out his belongings.
So I feel like there wasn’t a moment where I cried.
But when I decorated this altar, I cried my heart out.
And then I finally felt like I could cry.
It had been several years since his death, so I wasn’t as sad as I was then, but the tears that came naturally made me feel as though my heart had been purified. I also felt a very pleasant sense of freshness.
For information on decorating the altar, please see the page on creating a Buddhist altar or altar for your pet .
I believe this altar will be the place where I can cry my heart out.
When you’re feeling down, be honest with your feelings, and when you’re sad, cry it out and face your heart.
I think that will help you recover quicker.
Grandma who lost her cat
The other day, I went to Osaka.
Whenever I go to Osaka, there is one place I always stop by if time permits.
It’s the observation deck at Itami Airport (Osaka Airport).
I watch planes take off and land from here.
This time I was watching the planes.
Then an old lady came and spoke to me.
“Hey, which one is a jumbo plane?”
“Oh, sorry, I don’t know much about airplanes.”
“That plane is big.”
“Maybe that’s Jumbo.”
“I’m going to Hokkaido now.”
“Are you traveling?”
“Yes, I’m still alive at 72.”
“He’s the same age as my father.”
And after talking for a while…
“You see, I had a cat,
but it died.
I was living alone and had already lost everything.
At my age, money means nothing.
You see a lot of people crying,
but when I’m really in pain, I can’t cry. I
don’t have the strength to cry.
People who cry quickly get better and move on.”
I responded:
“Maybe being able to cry makes people feel better.
Everyone wants to cry, but it’s hard to do so.
Especially when it comes to pets, people have all kinds of opinions. If
only there was a place where they could cry…”
The grandmother said:
“Well, I see, it was good talking to you.”
We often receive emails from people telling us stories of saying goodbye to their pets.
It seems that many of you have come to our store looking for a place to cry, just like us.
We hope that this place in our store can become a place of comfort for everyone.
My beloved dog Mukku has also become a star.
I didn’t tell my grandmother about this, or that I was making pet goods.
The old lady said it was time, put her backpack on and left.
Have a nice trip…
Be careful.
I smiled, waved goodbye, and said goodbye.
Maybe you were watching me on the deck of a plane somewhere.
What kind of cat did your grandmother have?
I wish I had asked more about the cat.
But maybe from now on I’ll be able to cry.
I hope that when you return from your trip, you will look back at the photos of your deceased cat and remember this day.
Article list: Experiences of pet loss and how to overcome it