Without pain there can be joy and you can't create light without casting a shadow. I think about my buddy every day. It's bitter sweet. I miss him, but as long as he's in my thoughts he's not entirely gone.
Sorry if it seemed like I was picking a tree over someone's loved one, that's not a stance I would take.
I hear you Pearl. It was harder to watch what the chemo did, than to let him go. There has to be a better way.