Kristina is visiting her cousin Natalia today.

"Are you ready Kristina?" asked her dad.

"Yess dad, I'm just coming," replied Kristina with her usual stutter.  She had just finished cleaning her bedroom and came downstairs holding a very special gift.

 "This is for Natalia," said Kristina smiling at her dad. "I hhope it will help make her feel better as she must be feeling so ssad."

"I'm sure your special and thoughtful gift will definitely make Natalia feel better," replied Kristina's dad reassuringly.

They both got into the car and put on their seatbelts as they know it's very important and helps keep them safe.

"Do you think Natalia will have another ppet dad?" asked Kristina.

"I don't know how Natalia will feel about having another pet as at the moment she is going to be dealing with many different emotions," explained dad.

Natalia's pet dog, Max, had sadly died and Kristina and her dad were going over to help Natalia with her loss.

"Natalia may be feeling frustrated and upset as Max is not with her.  We can't do anything to bring him back," explained dad, "but we can be there to help Natalia."

"What can I do to helllp Natalia?" asked Kristina. She had been struggling to think about what she could do to make her cousin feel better.

"I know you love Natalia very much and do not like seeing her upset, but remember you have been helping by listening to her on the phone.  I'm so proud of you for being so understanding," said her dad.

 

"Thanks dad," said Kristina as she remembered back to all of the telephone conversations she had with Natalia and listened to how she was feeling.

As they arrived at Natalia's house, Kristina took a deep breath and knocked on the door.  She smiled at her dad who smiled back reassuringly.

 

Natalia came to the door and smiled at Kristina and gave her a big long hug. 

 

"I'm so happy to see you Kristina," said Natalia, "thank you for coming."

 

"I'm really happy to see you too," said Kristina.

 

Natalia said hello to Kristina's dad and hugged him before they all went into the lounge and sat down.

"Hello Kristina," said Natalia's mom while giving her a hug. "Thank you for coming to see us, it's lovely to see you both.”

 

It had been some time since Kristina and her dad had visited.

 

"Kristina has bought something very special for Natalia," explained Kristina's dad, passing his daughter the present.

"This is for you!" said Kristina cheerfully as she passed her present to Natalia.

"Oh wow!" said Natalia happily. She wasn't expecting a present and it really did cheer her up. "Thank you uncle Isaac and Kristina.”

After Natalia had unwrapped her present she looked at it for a few seconds thoughtfully and then hugged Kristina. "This is the best present I've ever had.  Look mom, it's a picture of Max."

 

Natalia's mom smiled at Kristina and said, "What a lovely thoughtful gift you have bought.  Thank you for being so kind and caring."

 

"I'm so happy you both like Max's photo," said Kristina feeling pleased as she had wondered if the photo of Max would upset Natalia.

 

"Max was my best friend and I'll never forget him," said Natalia holding the photo close to her. "Mom, can we put this picture on the wall where we can see Max all the time?"

 

"Yes, of course we can," replied Natalia's mom.

"We can put the photo on the wall now if you want to," said Kristina's dad trying to be helpful.

 

"Yes please Uncle Isaac, can we put it up by the fireplace as Max always liked to sit there the most?"

"Let's do it now then," suggested Kristina's dad looking over at Natalia’s mom who smiled back and was grateful for his help.

 

Natalia's mom brought in the tool box and drilled a hole in the wall after Kristina's dad had worked out where the centre spot was.  Within minutes the photo of Max was on the wall.

 

“This is just awesome!" exclaimed Natalia. "Over the last few days I've been feeling so angry as I'll never see Max again but seeing his picture every day will help me."

 

"It's okay to feel angry Natalia," said her mom softly. "Max was a big part of our family who we loved very much and we all feel different emotions.  It's important to talk about how you are feeling.  Perhaps you could write about how you are feeling too."

 

“We took Max to see the vet a few times,” explained Natalia.  “I think I will write about how nice he was and how he always gave Max a cuddle.

 

"I know what I can do mom!" said Natalia, walking over to the bookshelf as she took the photo album from the top shelf.  "I'm going to make a special book about Max.  Can I take his photos out and put them in my special book mom?”

"That sounds like a brilliant idea Natalia, maybe you and Kristina could work on it together," suggested Natalia's mom.

 

"I think that's a great idea mom.  Would you like to help me Kristina?" asked Natalia eagerly.

"Yess I would," replied Kristina excitedly.

"Come on then, let's begin," instructed Natalia, leading the way to the dining table. "I'll just go and get my scrap box from my bedroom first.”

 

While Natalia was upstairs, her mom told Kristina and her dad that they had really cheered Natalia up as she was feeling lonely without Max.  "I think it's going to take some time to get used to living without Max."

 

"That's understandable," said Kristina's dad, " you had Max from when he was a puppy so it will take time to learn to live without him."

"I'm back!" said Natalia cheerfully holding her scrap box.

 

"Oh my, that's a big sscrap box," said Kristina looking a bit surprised.

 

 

Natalia giggled and said, "I have so many things in here, I think I'll be needing an even bigger box soon."

 

As the girls sat at the table and started work on Natalia's special book, both parents went to the kitchen to make drinks.

"I'm so pleased to see Natalia is coping well after losing Max.  It's not easy and she has been so brave,” said Kristina's dad as he put some biscuits on a plate.

"Yes, she has been so brave and sat with me many times to tell me how she was feeling.  Sometimes she was confused.  There were times when she cried and moments when she felt very angry," explained her mom.

 

As both parents came back into the lounge they saw both girls happily looking through the photo album.

 

"This is when Max went to the beach, it was so windy that I had to wrap up warm.  Max was so excited and really enjoyed it," said Natalia.

 

"Max also made a friend called Pops at the park and they both ran around having so much fun.  I think Pops and Max were best friends," said Natalia smiling.

"It's really nnice that you have so many photos and memories of Max," said Kristina thoughtfully.

 

"Maybe you could draw a picture of Max and put it in your special book?" suggested Kristina's dad.

 

"I think I would like to do that," replied Natalia, "I will write a poem too."

 

The girls worked for about an hour and then stopped to have some lunch, remembering to wash their hands first.

  

 

After lunch the girls spent the afternoon making Natalia's special book and talked about all the wonderful and happy times they had shared with Max.

 

“Thank you for coming over today Kristina, you have helped me so much,” said Natalia smiling at her cousin.  She felt very lucky to have such a caring and thoughtful cousin.