I promise I'll stop posting about Diomedes eventually.
I lost my godmother to pancreatic cancer around Easter. I cried more when Lucky died. WAY more. By several orders of magnitude. It's been seven months and I'm occasionally still reduced to a blubbering mess on occasion. Like now. So apologies if I ramble, but I needed to jot this down now. It felt important.
Pets touch us in ways that are... Unfathomable. They are our true companions, our closest friends... Our children. You gave Diomedes his best life, because he got to live it with you, HIS human. And in the end, after however many years of love, of warmth, of security and companionship, you were still there for him and did the HARDEST possible thing: You helped him move on. He loved you. He loves you still. Never, ever, in your darkest of moments, in your deepest of hearts, forget that.
Nick, I'm so, SO sorry for your loss, buddy. bhamv3's right, no one will hold it against you if you break that promise.
Also, that's a bloody fantastic statue. They did him right.