I just had to share this story. This is my second post here.

Our beloved 14 year old dog Max had been deteriorating in health for years. He was getting bad bouts of pain and paralysis. The vet had said there was nothing left to do as he was an elderly dog and was nearing the end of his life. We were dreading the day we may have to make a decision to let him be in extreme constant pain or to put him down humanely. We felt Max would let us know when it was time.

One night, he started barking in obvious pain, and my husband and I took turns lying with him. I stroked him for hours, telling him how proud I was of him, how much I loved him, and how grateful I was to him. I thanked him for the time he saved me by scaring away burglars who were in the house. I thanked him for how he supported me when he would place a paw on my shoulder and just sit with me at my lowest point, crying in pain with my back injury. I thanked him for how he would try to protect me by curling his body around my pregnant stomach when I was sleeping. As I stroked his head, I told him if he was in pain, he didn’t have to stay with us any longer; he sighed, stopped struggling, and fell asleep. The next day, he seemed better again. I knew gratitude had helped.

A couple of days later, he started breathing badly again and barking in pain. He was shaking and then had a fit in front of me where his paws flew up in the air, and his mouth became lopsided. He looked at me after with such pain and fear in his eyes I knew we couldn’t let him suffer anymore. I rang my husband and just held him and kissed him until it was time to take him to the vet. Max passed without a struggle but something inside of us felt like it broke.

I was devastated especially because I felt guilty for making the decision to end his life. I was functioning for the sake of my two kids, but honestly, I wanted to climb into bed and stay there for a long time. Everywhere in the house reminded me of Max and made me want to move more. I was barely keeping it together, but throughout, I kept writing in my gratitude journal. I took out The Magic book again and went through the practices, doing half the book in 2 days. I also started to read Hero and continued to pack up things to move.
I wrote lists of gratitude for having known Max and even wrote a list of the positives in Max’s passing, which was very hard to do but helped so much.

On the second day, my husband called in tears to say he was shocked because he had just been told he was getting an unexpected bonus the following week for 2000 euros. We were both crying as this meant we now had the money to finish renovations to our house so we could rent it out and move. Instantly, we thought of Max and how, in death, he was helping us out.

The next evening, I started thinking negatively as I had asked Max for a sign if he was happy and forgave me. I felt as if the bonus was for my husband, and maybe Max was angry with me. Through my tears, I said out loud, ‘Max, if you are happy and you forgive me, give me a sign. Show me an unusual butterfly, a type I’ve never seen before, and get it to touch me.’
I wanted to make the request unbelievable because then it could only be from Max and the Universe. I cried and cried for the loss of Max, and even though my husband reassured me that Max knew how well I treated him and how much I loved him, I went to bed so sad.

I woke up the next day and the sun was shining, I still felt sad but felt cleansed from crying so much. I went outside to the back garden with my kids, secretly hoping I would see a butterfly and get my wish. Within 10 minutes I saw a flash of red far away. I said a silent prayer to Max and the Universe that if it was a sign, have the butterfly come to me. I had to go back inside as my daughter needed her nappy changed. When I came out again, the most unusual butterfly, which looked all red in flight but all black with red stripes when resting, flew into our garden and onto our stone floor. It walked up towards me and stopped. I sat on the floor, and it stayed beside me. I was crying tears of joy the whole time; after about an hour, I put my hand down beside it even though it scared me to do that. Straight away, it moved towards me; I had to remind myself to breathe; I was so excited. Slowly it climbed up onto my hand, its leg tickled my skin, it was an unbelievable sensation. It moved up my arm and then stepped onto my shirt, and it stopped just over my heart. I nearly burst with joy, and all I could say was thank you over and over until it flew off. By the way, Max was a red cocker spaniel.

As mentioned in my previous post, I was focused on moving. I had wondered why it was not happening as smoothly as usual as I normally manifest things very quickly. I reasoned the Universe knew better than me, and when the time was right, it would happen. I now realize that we needed a fresh start for the new house, where we would not be reminded every day of the sadness of his passing. The new house will be a new beginning.

The Secret got me through my grief. Each day, I came to this site and cried tears of joy for everyone’s achievements. I knew I had to let myself grieve but being such a big believer in the law of attraction, I knew I had to change my frequency and make sure I kept myself in gratitude. I know we are all energy and cannot cease to exist. I know Max will be fine. I just needed time to mourn the loss of one of my best friends. Now, I feel he has given me permission to let go of the pain and concentrate only on the good memories of him.

Words cannot express my gratitude to Rhonda, everyone involved with The Secret, and the people posting on this site.
Thank you, Universe, and of course, thank you, Max.