Freja

“When dogs go to Heaven, they don’t need wings
because God knows that dogs love running best.
He gives them fields. Fields and fields and fields.
When a dog first arrives in heaven, he just runs.”^[1]“Dog Heaven” by Cynthia Rylant

The unthinkable, and inevitable, finally happened. On December 12, 2024, we said goodbye to Freja after fourteen thrilling years with her independent, active soul.

Almost our entire pack was with her when she departed. We gathered around her during her final moments. Jennifer pictured her in her mind’s eye, running after her beloved orange ball into the commons area behind our home. Malin then opened the sliding glass door, and Freja was gone.

As anyone with a beloved furry family member can tell you, losing them is heartbreaking. In the days since she has passed, we have continued some of our daily rituals with her, including walking to her favorite spots in our neighborhood. We love picturing her now running free, her sniffer guiding her wherever she wants to go.

I am convinced that there is a heaven, and that Freja is there, along with my mom and dad, aunt, uncles, grandparents and their grandparents. They will all be there, waiting to greet me there when it is my time to arrive.^[2]Who knows when this will happen? I often joke to my friends and family: “Live each day as if it’s your last, and one of these days, you will be right!”

Theoretical physics, and the field of advanced mathematics support the notion that there are many dimensions of reality beyond the four conventional dimensions of space and time. While the actual number of dimensions remains a topic of scientific debate, it does not take much imagination to postulate that time is merely a social construct. “In the worlds above this one, time simply doesn’t behave as it does here. It’s not necessarily one-thing-after-another in those worlds.”^[3]Alexander III M.D., Eben. Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife (p. 143). Simon & Schuster. Kindle Edition.

We know only a tiny fraction of all there is to know in our galaxy, much less the entire universe. Acknowledging the limitations of our understanding provides me with hope in what awaits us all somewhere down the line.

A few days after Freja passed, I heard this song by Coldplay, which I often imagine Freja singing back to everyone in her pack:

We’ve been through low
Been through sunshine
Been through snow
All the colors of the weather
We’ve been through high
Every corner of the sky
And still we’re holding on together
You got all my love
Whether it rains or pours, I’m all yours
You’ve got all my love
Whether it rains, it remains
You’ve got all my love.^[4]“All my love” by Coldplay.

I picture Freja eagerly awaiting my arrival, sitting next to her orange ball with great excitement and anticipation about what comes next.