Homeschooling Beyond Crayons, Finger Paints and Playdough: A sad life lesson

This past Monday we said goodbye to another fur baby. Our beloved Bear-Bear, who was 12 yrs and 3 months old went to run and romp with our Sebastian, Hank (our lop-eared (house trained) bunny -- which was my husband and my first pet after we were married.) and Stormy.
This experience has been harder than loosing Sebastian. We had to have Stormy girl put down in April due to the fact that she was dying and it would have been a horrible death to let her go naturally. Stormy lived a long happy life she was over 17 yrs old. Bear-Bear went naturally here at home with us. He wasn't really in any pain and just went to sleep. We're hoping that it gave our sweet Basset Hound, Lollipop some closure when it comes to Bear-Bear. All she knows right now (bless her heart) is that when someone she loves leaves in a blanket they aren't coming back.
Lil' Man took Bear-Bear's passing really hard too. They grew up together. Bear-Bear was our "baby" stand in when we were trying to have a baby. 1 yr and 1 month after his birth, Lil' Man joined our family. They were best of buddies and playmates. Bear-Bear was ever so patient and understanding when it came to Lil' Man. He never bit him or nipped at him not matter what Lil' Man did to him. He would just give a gentle little grrrrr and then we would tell Lil' Man that Bear-Bear said that was enough. They would kiss and let me tell you it was interesting. We have such sweet memories of our fur babies and are so thankful for the time that God gave us with each of them. They have blessed us far more than we could have ever shown or told them. They will forever be in our hearts and deeply missed.They will never be far from our hearts.
I bet your wondering why this is posted on my blog about homeschooling. Our pets have always been a part of our lives, that means they're part of our school. They listen to us do our school and share in our school day. Loosing them is like loosing a classmate in a way. It's a life less in grief and loss. I pray that this experience will help to make each of us stronger and more compassionate towards other living creatures and humans We learned that life is to short, you never know when it will end. Never take your loved ones for granted. That every day and ever experience is precious, to be enjoyed to the fullest and to do your best at every task you do during it.