Just one this time, and it's not something I consider fascinating or cool or anything like that, but it's a really personal thing that I don't talk about all that much.
1) I love dogs, I've had dogs all my life, but dogs die, and they die way too young.
I 100% hear you on this Bill. I was "lucky" (if you could call it that) that I went through the process with 2 dogs I wasn't very attached to first--one dog was found on the street, very elderly and apparently abandoned. She was heartworm positive and couldn't survive the treatment for heartworms so we had the vet euthanize her. I felt good that we had fed, watered her (she was very hungry and thirsty when found) and bathed so she wasn't stinky and covered in fleas anymore. At least she didn't die in misery on the street.
Then a senile schnauzer who was a permanent foster (unadoptable) had to be euthanized after living with us for a year and a half. She was already showing clear dog dementia when we took her in, and developed more neurological conditions and got weaker as time went on. We were out of town when things hit a crisis and our friend who was taking care of our dogs had to take her to the vet for us. So I'd been present for the process with a dog I didn't really know, and mourned for a dog I cared more about but wasn't there for.
Which prepared me for the inevitable with the older of the first two dogs we adopted, Sammy. He'd had Cushings for years and had become more and more of a little old man, sleeping 80-90% of the time, walking slowly, deaf and mostly blind, so we knew it was coming. Still it was a very very sad day taking him to the vet and I vividly remember holding him in my lap during the ride and being in the room with him when the vet did the injection. And yes, the two of us held him and cried for quite a while before we were ready to let go of him and go home. He was 16 and we'd had him for 9 years.
And now the younger of the first two dogs we adopted, Tyler, is in that old man stage. He is my favorite dog ever and he's still doing pretty well, even if he is stinky and sleeps most of the time, but I know the day isn't too far off and I dread it.
The only positive thing is that given our habit of taking in rescues and fosters, we'll never have to make the awful trek home to an empty silent house after one of those trips to the vet. I don't think I could stand that.