You just never know you you will meet!

A young friend of mine named Annie, asked me recently if I thought it was sadder to lose a pet dog or a pet crab. I told her that I thought it is incredibly sad any time something dies. She seemed relieved. I knew she had pet hermit crabs and suspected one of them had died. After this conversation, I started to think about how you talk to children about death. What can you say? A friend of mine with cancer recently said to me, "bodies wear out and this is how my body is wearing out." Bodies do wear out. Crab bodies included.

I believe dealing with death is like watching the leaves die on the trees at the end of summer and then fall from the trees to the ground. We are sad that summer is over. We will miss the warm feeling of the sun, but it is time for a rest. The leaves die and fall to the ground to nourish the tree while it rests in the winter. In the spring new leaves always come back. The crab dies so its soul can rest a while until it is time for the soul to live again as another crab, or a heron, or maybe a person. Who knows? It makes me feel better to know that all energy including life energy never dies, not ever. So my dear friend Annie, your crab is still with us, her soul is just resting. Be sure to be kind to all creatures, you never know when you are saying hello to your crab's soul wearing another body like, I do not know, hummmm....a squirrel!