We lost a duck today. A fox ran through the yard and got her. Even though I saw the fox and ran over, I was too late to be able to save her. I feel heartbroken. It feels important to honor her, even though I have other things I need to post. I can post those later. She’s the black and white duck in the pics below, and she always went everywhere with Drake, who’s the brown duck. Drake is devastated today. Maybe in shock. He was there when the fox got her. She is in the video below with the guineas, you can hear a little of her signature quack. Foxes don’t usually come around during the day, they tend to lurk when it’s dark out. Maybe this one was extra hungry, who knows. The tool I used to help me process this is called the Nurturing and Limits Cycle, from Dr. Laurel Mellin’s body of work. We use her tools during our Stress Eating Support Group. Wanted to share how I processed this situation with you because it’s a tool you can also use when you feel devastated or frustrated, for whatever reason. I’ll probably need to do it a few times, to get through the emotions, it’s so hard to lose an animal. These are the types of tools I use instead of turning to food to help comfort me, like I have in the past. I find emotional processing tools to be much more effective in moving through emotions and less harmful to my health and well being goals. Here’s how it goes… 1.)Connect with feelings in a specific order.. Anger- I feel angry that I wasn’t there to be able to save Maggie. I’m angry that the Fox came by during the day, I can’t stand it that Drake lost his good friend and companion. I hate that this terrible thing happened. Sadness- I’m so sad that we lost this wonderful duck, who has so much sass and so much personality. I’m sad that I wasn’t there in that moment to chase the fox away. I’m sad that she’s gone . Fear- I’m afraid that the fox will come back and try to take more ducks. I’m afraid that Drake is gonna have a hard time. Guilt- I feel guilty that I let the ducks out earlier than usual. I feel guilty that I wasn’t able to protect her