Comments on: Pets, Social Software, and Unconditional Love

By: You Don’t Need Physical Proximity to Feel Close « Library Garden

You Don’t Need Physical Proximity to Feel Close « Library Garden — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:18:36 +0000

[...] Michael’s posts on flickr and knowing that eventually this post would come. Then I read Karen Schneider’s perfect post about pets, and unconditional love and social networks, and I just have to [...]

By: Latest dispatches « Thus Spoke Pragmatic Librarian

Latest dispatches « Thus Spoke Pragmatic Librarian — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 18:36:13 +0000

[...] remains a part of our lives. I guess these feelings reflect what Karen Schneider says about the value of social software. They may allow us to become known to the greater world, but they can serve the deeper purpose of [...]

By: Paula Barnett-Ellis

Paula Barnett-Ellis — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 19:58:08 +0000

Thanks Karen for a wonderful tribute. I had the chance to meet Michael at a conference a few days ago, and have seen his wonderful dog photos. I just added my “babies” to Facebook’s Dogbook yesterday. I will go home and hug my puppies and cherish them.

By: jennimi

jennimi — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:39:10 +0000

You articulated the two point “crux” so well. And what a perty photo of Michael and Jake you picked.

By: Michael

Michael — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 01:42:53 +0000

Thanks Karen. You said it so well. It was a long difficult day — I was alone with Charlie, who slept deeply for hours — but reading this post and following the comments at TTW and Flickr made me feel not alone. There’s nothing – no pontification, no “scholarly” diatribe, nothing — that can take these interactions away. They carry meaning, weight and most importantly, love. Bless you.

By: phyllis

phyllis — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 01:02:18 +0000

Thank you, Karen, for putting into words what so many of us feel about the “real” human connections that develop in the “virtual” world. My heart ached as Michael shared the sorrow of saying good-by to Jake. Helping our pets go at the appropriate time is one way we can pay them back for all the love they give us.

By: Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran

Mary Beth Sancomb-Moran — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:33:22 +0000

Beautifully said, Karen.

My husband and I have three dogs, and they’re members of the family. The joy of having them in our lives is worth the pain we feel when we lose them….but it is pain, nonetheless.

My heart goes out to Michael.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 20:35:31 +0000

What a lovely post. I’m sitting here with tears on my face at work from having just seen Michael’s pics and realizing what happened…. wondering what in the world I can DO!
Thank you for the post. I feel the same.

By: Kathryn

Kathryn — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:12:09 +0000

Karen, so eloquent a post. I, too, feel much more a part of Michael’s world through this story. And even while I have met Jake, you would not have to meet him to see the relationship captured in Michael’s flickr photos. You are so right…it weaves us all closer. This must be what telephones felt like in the very early days – the marvel of “being” with someone far away.

By: Janet Griffing

Janet Griffing — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 13:32:02 +0000

“The tragedy of pets is that if we are lucky we outlive them, but the triumph is that pets teach us again and again the sweet brevity of life.”

Ah, yes, and beautifully put. I have known this grief more times than I care to count, having opened my life and my heart to a collection of dogs and cats over the past 30 years. I don’t know Michael, but I can feel for him. It can be so hard, choosing to do the right and loving thing for our pets when all we want is to have them with us for one more day. (And I have to stop there, ’cause I’m getting weepy…)