Are You Ready to Die Today?

The myth of Psyche — “soul” in ancient Greek — is a journey of self-discovery and empowerment

One gorgeous spring afternoon a few years ago, I took my tiny, deer-head Chihuahua, Chica, for a stroll next to my retirement community’s golf course. A dainty, alert little thing, she pranced along next to me on her leash, enjoying the sunny weather and periodically leaving her “mark.”

Then a diminutive, white-haired, elderly woman in a blue dress, walking a Russian wolfhound on a leash, approached us on the path from the right. I glanced at them and looked away. The huge wolfhound, however, had zeroed in on my little Chica with deadly intent, as it turned out. Before I knew what was happening, the wolfhound escaped its frail owner and silently charged toward Chica.

Chica’s leash was knocked from my hand and she screamed in agony as the wolfhound violently shook her like captured prey. Foolishly, perhaps, I tried to wrest Chica from the wolfhound’s jaws, to no avail. The vicious attack seemed to go on and on, with Chica screaming piteously.

Within an hour, Chica would die from her wounds at the veterinarian hospital. Unscathed but traumatized, I could only weep bitterly, while my husband tried his best to console me.

As I write these words today, I still feel shaken by the ferocity of that event. Neither Chica nor I knew when we began our walk that it would be her last. I’ve often contemplated that fact. The attack was so unexpected. So final. Little Chica was only four years old.