Empty Baskets

Two and a half years in the making and now it is finished. When my second and last dog Jasper passed away nearly three years ago, I was devastated. Anyone who has lost a pet can understand the huge emptiness that I was feeling. Although I could not find the words to express the loss, I remember taking a picture of his empty toy basket. That visual echoed the words that I could not find.

As I do, I tried to heal myself with art. It was working....but it wasn't. Struggling with the piece, I wanted so badly to express what I was feeling through stitch but nothing seemed to work. I put it aside for quite some time. Last year I kept busy with my 52 Collage Project and the basket piece sat...waiting. Recently I came back to it. I really just felt the need to finish it, to put it behind me and to move on. Even though I am still not completely satisfied with it, I was having a hard time starting anything new until that piece was complete.

The basket is once again filled with toys. Rather than chew toys and bones, it has been replaced by little balls with bells and catnip mice. Although the basket is not as full as it once was, I find comfort whenever I see one of our new furry family members fish out a toy from the basket that once held Jasper's prized stuffed animals.