Silent Loyalty

[Timl1980]

I cried with her...it's that simple. 

 

I was approached by Anna, (I changed her name since she doesn't want to be identified), after a Sunday meeting. Not my congregation, I was just visiting a couple of friends at this hall...and Anna has known me since I was a small child.

 

Her hands were more weathered than I remembered...more withered than I cared to admit. I could remember traveling to her house 35 years ago with my parents and my sister...squirming in my seat as I eagerly awaited the wonderful adventures we used to have at her 12 acre hobby farm. She was always such a kind and loving sister...and above all...everyone who ever met her knew one fact above all else: Anna loved animals!

 

She didn't discriminate, she would have a bunch of abandoned puppies one week...and a pair of baby raccoons the next. You never knew what animals were going to be on her farm...you only knew that Anna would be smothering them with lots of love and affection...and showing them off to anyone who stopped by.

 

And that brings me to Maggie...even now I find my throat tightening...hot tears springing into my eyes. 

 

Maggie, precious, faithful, devoted, beautiful little Maggie…Anna's 17 year old Shih Tzu who had slept by her side every single night since the passing of Frank, Anna's husband. Her precious Maggie had passed away the previous week...and Anna was absolutely devastated. 

 

"She was my shadow." Anna whispered to me as we stood back in the coatroom of the hall. "She knew when I was hurting. She never left me alone...she always knew how to find me when I needed her most."

 

Whew!! Why am I crying even now??

 

Breathe Tim...it's okay. 

 

But what Anna did next...man...what this dear sister showed me NEXT absolutely blew my mind...and THAT'S why I decided to sit down and get these words out. If any of YOU have felt what Anna felt, please take comfort in the following verse:

 

Jeremiah 8:7 "Even the stork in the sky knows its seasons; The turtledove and the swift and the thrush keep to the time."

 

"Br. Alvarez shared this with me after..." Anna's voice quavered and trailed off. "After we put her down." She finished, wiping tears from her eyes as she opened her tablet and brought up the verse, (which was highlighted in purple). 

 

She read it word for word...I think she needed to...and then she just stared at me, as if I should understand what she was trying to say.

 

"Don't you get it, Timmy??" She asked finally, a little frustrated. "Here, let me show you his note!" And one gnarled finger reached out and tapped the purple square next to the verse number. 

 

Handing me the tablet, she watched as I read the following: 

 

"My dear Anna,

 

Even the birds return when Jehovah calls them home, not because they think, but out of instinct.

 

Maggie loved you and stayed close to you, not out of reason, but out of instinct.

 

May this verse always remind you that Jehovah doesn't need words. He sees the ones who stay!"

 

Friends...Maggie could never understand prayers...she didn't grasp the meaning of the word "hope". But she responded to something deeper...a quiet, God-given instinct to remain near...to simply offer presence...without "explanation".

 

Jeremiah 8:7 speaks of creatures who follow their appointed paths , not due to intellect, but design! What a stark contrast to us stupid humans...who sometimes selfishly forget or just plain ignore the One who quite literally gave us everything!

 

I can't tell you how much I respect this elder I have never met...he didn't try to "explain away" the grief she felt. He simply pointed out a spiritual truth: Even silent loyalty has serious spiritual weight in Jehovah's eyes!

 

Maggie's loyalty...her love...it may not have been "conscious"...but it was absolutely 100% consistent...and that consistency comforted this elderly sister in ways that words never could!

 

So yes...I sat in the back of the coatroom and cried with Anna...I hugged her...I felt for her. Who among us wouldn't have?

 

And if any of you would like to share experiences regarding your pets...please, by all means...share away! We can laugh together...we can even cry together. After all, what are brothers and sisters for? 

 

Just know and understand, my dear brothers and sisters...that loyalty doesn't always speak aloud...sometimes it's just silent...sometimes true loyalty just...sits and stays!

Edited August 22 by Timl1980

[dljbsp]

Thanks for sharing this Tim. It was at the right time for me and my wife.

We love our pets. We've always had cats. Our oldest cat live to 20 years and 3 months. Rare for a cat. She was of great comfort for my wife, who has been disabled for 11 years. We had to have her put down, just this last Sunday.
That cat would sit on my wife during the low and lonely periods of recovery from one procedure or another. You know, when we return home and she's recuperating. And I was off at work all day long. 

 

 

[Timl1980]

8 minutes ago, dljbsp said:

Thanks for sharing this Tim. It was at the right time for me and my wife.

We love our pets. We've always had cats.

 

We do too!! We have two cats, one big and orange and fat and the other is our kitten, although he's over a year old now. Bruce and Max, respectively. We had another kitten, Barney, but he developed a severe cough and we had to put him down over a year ago 🥺

 

10 minutes ago, dljbsp said:

Our oldest cat live to 20 years and 3 months. Rare for a cat. She was of great comfort for my wife, who has been disabled for 11 years. We had to have her put down, just this last Sunday.

I'm very sorry 😔, this is why I chose to share this post. It sucks knowing they won't be resurrected, but we loved them while they were here!!

 

11 minutes ago, dljbsp said:

That cat would sit on my wife during the low and lonely periods of recovery from one procedure or another. You know, when we return home and she's recuperating. And I was off at work all day long. 

And this is another reason I decided to share, we all love our pets...they are literally family for most of us!!

 

Thank you for sharing, and I'm sorry you guys lost your beloved kitty!! 😭 ❤️🥺

[dljbsp]

26 minutes ago, Timl1980 said:

Thank you for sharing, and I'm sorry you guys lost your beloved kitty!! 😭 ❤️🥺

Our cat was given to us by a brother in the congregation. His wife had found the cat at a lumberyard that she worked at. So I sent him a note after we put the cat down.

This Was the tail end of it:
Give someone a pet, and you don’t just give them an animal. You give them a life, and all the love that comes with it.

 

[Mzbarb]

This touched my heart . I have a dog that is my shadow too. He is old. After reading this I am convinced Jehovah knows I need him. Every morning when I wake up, I thank Jehovah for my fur baby being with me another day. Thank you for sharing. 

[Timl1980]

21 hours ago, Mzbarb said:

This touched my heart . I have a dog that is my shadow too. He is old. After reading this I am convinced Jehovah knows I need him. Every morning when I wake up, I thank Jehovah for my fur baby being with me another day. Thank you for sharing.

 

Honestly, thank you for reading and taking the time and effort to comment. What's his name and breed, if you don't mind my asking? I absolutely love all animals...they often come to me when they apparently won't to other people...and although I don't claim to understand why, I'm deeply grateful to Jehovah for it!

[Mzbarb]

My dog name is Jaxxson. He is a German  Shepherd mixed with Siberian Husky. My lab mixed with chow had to be put down during the pandemic. I miss him so much . His name is Khurly. 

[Timl1980]

8 minutes ago, Mzbarb said:

My dog name is Jaxxson. He is a German  Shepherd mixed with Siberian Husky. My lab mixed with chow had to be put down during the pandemic. I miss him so much . His name is Khurly. 

 

Well I would love to meet Jaxxson!! I have always wanted to have a lab, or just a dog period... but my wife forbids it...says it limits us on where we can go and such 😞

 

Plus she always jokes that I show more love to animals than I do to her...but I swear they just love me for some reason!

 

Khurly sounds sweet too, I'll bet he was a cuddler ☺️🤗 Thank you for sharing!!

[Mzbarb]

I think this may be our last fog. Breaks my heart when they die. Your wife is right, they do limit you. Hopefully in the new world, you can have whatever animal you want.😉

[Timl1980]

Just now, Mzbarb said:

I think this may be our last fog

I hope we're very very near the end!!

 

1 minute ago, Mzbarb said:

Your wife is right, they do limit you

Figures, but honestly the trade off would be worth it to me, not to her though. I get it though.

2 minutes ago, Mzbarb said:

Hopefully in the new world, you can have whatever animal you want.😉

Yesssss, I'm thinking about riding a lion around for a while, just to see life from that perspective, (and of course I will be taking all the cat naps I can get 😅😉

[ChrisW]

Thank you for this.  I know that was very emotional for Anna.  I'm sure you were a comfort for her. I've had 2 dogs grow old and had to have our to sleep 1 dog that a neighbor poisoned and 1 cat that got sick and we put to sleep.  It's never easy.  And just when I think it hurts to much and I'll never get another animal.  They're I go again.  I don't know what life would be like without them.

 

[Timl1980]

20 hours ago, ChrisW said:

Thank you for this.  I know that was very emotional for Anna.  I'm sure you were a comfort for her. I've had 2 dogs grow old and had to have our to sleep 1 dog that a neighbor poisoned and 1 cat that got sick and we put to sleep.  It's never easy.  And just when I think it hurts to much and I'll never get another animal.  They're I go again.  I don't know what life would be like without them.

 

Thanks for commenting and sharing about your pets...it's never easy to put them down! 😔 I totally agree, I don't know what life would be like without mine either 💕

[AH173]

My wife and I are on 5th and 6th dogs that we had in our almost 36 years of marriage. 

 

The previous 3 we put down for illness and 1 died after veterinarian care. 

 

I can't put in to words my appreciation that  you put this down for posting. I am glad that I came on this topic. 

 

I will put this as a note on the Jeremiah scripture for future reference. 

 

Much appreciated. 

[Timl1980]

59 minutes ago, AH173 said:

I can't put in to words my appreciation that  you put this down for posting. I am glad that I came on this topic. 

 

Thank you for reading it and for taking the time to comment. I tried to post things that I think will be encouraging to others, but sometimes things happen that just kind of seem to play out themselves, and this was one of those times. 

 

My wife and I just came from a sister's house where I deliberately visit each week on my route just to get my mandatory "puppy time".

 

I go and play with her animals quite a bit and get it all out of my system, at least until the following week. 

 

Thank you for taking the time to share, it's encouraging to read how others love their pets and know that most of us consider them to be a big part of our family!

[MullumMiss]

On 20 September 2021 we had our beautiful staffy Cayenne put down.  He was just 5 months off 18.  We had him from 7 weeks old.  We do not have children so he was our boy.  I grieve for him like parents grieve for children though knowing we will never see him again.  I got him cremated and i have his ashes in a lovely tin that sits on my sideboard with his photo.  I miss him so much.  I am hoping in the paradise perhaps Jehovah may give me another Cayenne, not resurrected but one the same.  I also had a beautiful cat Cabriolet for 15 years and she was put down in 2000 which was also heart breaking.  

[Timl1980]

5 minutes ago, MullumMiss said:

On 20 September 2021 we had our beautiful staffy Cayenne put down.  He was just 5 months off 18.  We had him from 7 weeks old.

 

That's really sad, thank you for taking time to read and post about your own "fur babies"🥺

 

It's tough putting them down, my wife rode in the back of our car the whole way back from the vet's office after we had put our one and a half year old kitten down because of his chronic lung issues. She just kept stroking his fur through the pet carrier container and crying the whole way back, talking to him and then talking to me as well. It wasn't easy, but we managed to get through it and buried him in our backyard. 

 

We still have a couple of pictures up around the house with him in it, and it's still very sad. 

 

11 minutes ago, MullumMiss said:

 I grieve for him like parents grieve for children though knowing we will never see him again.  I got him cremated and i have his ashes in a lovely tin that sits on my sideboard with his photo.  I miss him so much.

 

I understand this completely!!

 

Again, thank you for taking the time to read the post and share your personal experience, it's very encouraging to know that we're not alone in how we feel!!

[Mike047]

One of the hardest things to do is determine whether it is just selfishness to keep a creature alive when it has no joy in living. We try to look after them and sometimes rationalise that they have become like children, and we would not put a child to sleep. We know, of course, that other creatures do not have eternity in their hearts, but it is still very painful to say goodbye, especially as it is forever. Jehovah will help us to understand how best to both welcome creatures into life and how to say goodbye when it comes to an end. We are still likely to shed a tear over lost pets.  

[BibleLove]

This is similar to something I have a question about. There is a sister in my hall that is looked at as , I guess, popular and and sort of the one that’s always chosen as one to study with others that are disfellowshipped. I was wondering…. How do you get that kind of rank? What do I have to do to be looked at like I’m really good spiritually? I’d like to be one of the popular ones, one of the ones that know things spiritually.

[Timl1980]

23 hours ago, Mike047 said:

One of the hardest things to do is determine whether it is just selfishness to keep a creature alive when it has no joy in living

 

That is very very true!! 

 

It's funny you bring that up, my wife didn't want to put our kitten down. She fought with herself for quite a long time over it, but in the end, she determined that he was really suffering and it wasn't fair to keep him around just for us. 🥺😞

[Timl1980]

2 hours ago, BibleLove said:

This is similar to something I have a question about. There is a sister in my hall that is looked at as , I guess, popular and and sort of the one that’s always chosen as one to study with others that are disfellowshipped. I was wondering…. How do you get that kind of rank? What do I have to do to be looked at like I’m really good spiritually? I’d like to be one of the popular ones, one of the ones that know things spiritually.

 

Honestly...I'm very confused by your post, my sister. I really don't know how to respond...not only because I'm not sure of what animals has to do with popularity in your congregation...but also...as far as I am aware...sisters don't usually study with those have been removed from the congregation? (I thought that was reserved for the elders, but I really don't know, so I'm sorry if I sound stupid or ignorant on this topic).

 

Please feel free to elaborate...and by all means...feel free to educate me as well...because I don't know everything! I know wayyyy less than I should, to be honest!🤪

[Hope]

Sisters can be assigned to conduct a "recovery" study with sisters who have been reinstated; I've had that privilege (on both sides of the table..  ), but no one studies with df'd ones except elders.

[Timl1980]

12 minutes ago, Hope said:

Sisters can be assigned to conduct a "recovery" study with sisters who have been reinstated; I've had that privilege (on both sides of the table..  ), but no one studies with df'd ones except elders.

 

Thank you so much for that added information and clarification...I reached out to a couple of elders in the interim before I posted my response...and I heard the same back a few minutes ago...but I didn't really understand that was a possibility. I'm still unsure of what animals have to do with her inquiry, but I definitely understand the side of it from the "Why can't I be like her...or him...angle!" 

 

I have felt like that myself...it sucks. 

Edited September 5 by Timl1980

[computerwiz]

27 minutes ago, Hope said:

no one studies with df'd ones except elders.

 

That was changed recently with the update on disfellowshipped ones.  We have instructions that we can assign a mature sister(s) to help one that has been DF'd for a long time to study to come back.  But in any case, the question is off topic...

[BibleLove]

On 9/5/2025 at 4:02 PM, Timl1980 said:

 

Honestly...I'm very confused by your post, my sister. I really don't know how to respond...not only because I'm not sure of what animals has to do with popularity in your congregation...but also...as far as I am aware...sisters don't usually study with those have been removed from the congregation? (I thought that was reserved for the elders, but I really don't know, so I'm sorry if I sound stupid or ignorant on this topic).

 

Please feel free to elaborate...and by all means...feel free to educate me as well...because I don't know everything! I know wayyyy less than I should, to be honest!🤪

Well I was basically referring to the fact that it started with you talking to a sister in the congregation. And I’ve had this on my mind for a little while now. I know this sister is one that seems to be more popular in my congregation. And so…I’d like to be like that too.

 

 Also, I don’t know about where you are at, but here they have a sister to study with one who is a woman that is removed (disfellowshipped) and is trying to return. 

And please don’t think you are ignorant. That’s not true at all