One of the most devastating parts of grief is how it can strike out of nowhere. There you are, doing a perfectly normal, everyday thing, and then that perfectly normal, everyday thing reminds you of something or someone who is no longer there. And when that presence you lost was intimately connected with your life, well, those moments happen frequently and unexpectedly.
I recently had to say goodbye to an old friend named Millie, an 18-year-old shih tzu who was a constant and steady companion for nearly my entire adult life. In an attempt to get my mind off the sadness, I decided to take a little dip into the familiar with Animal Crossing, …