I think the ability to manage grief is very much connected to our ability to place situations in perspective. Last night I finally realized clearly that letting Stinky Wink go was not what was best for me, but for him. My reluctance to let him go was because I would be lonely. I would lose my best friend. I would hurt. But love can--and must--move beyond all those me-oriented feelings.When we can realize that, then we know that we not only made the best decision, but the only decision. Love, after all, is always about the Other, and has to be. Otherwise it isn't really love--at least not self-less love.I will always love the little guy who shared our lives for almost 12 years, and mine especially for the past five years, twenty-four hours a day, day in and day out. Now I know that during those final hours as I tried to comfort him and wipe the matter out of his eyes, what I saw there in those eyes was not "Save me," but "Let me go, while I still have some dignity." When I can get completely past the total sadness of what had to be done, and focus fully on how peaceful and at-rest he looked, lying on the couch, waiting for his bed to be prepared in the iris beds, then the perspective may be complete. My precious little friend, may your beautiful Corgi body rest in peace, while your spirit romps, pain-free, at the Rainbow Bridge, waiting for a reunion that will surely come.