Just this
side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has
been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There
are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play
together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine and our friends are warm
and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those
who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember
them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content,
except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special, someone who
was left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and
looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; his eager body begins to
quiver. Suddenly, he breaks from the group, flying over the green grass, faster
and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally
meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy
kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you
look once more into those trusting eyes, so long gone from your life, but never
absent from your heart
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together..
*Author Unknown*
If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember...
The first
is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend.
You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions
of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting
moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter--simple
because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen
pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or
front room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it instills
a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many
years to come.
The second
day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other.
Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your
longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate
steps where you once
saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will
begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her food.
And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming
emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third
day finally arrives.
And on
this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be
faced with
making a decision of your own--on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the
guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually
leaves you---you will
feel as alone as a single star in the dark night.
If you
are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And
if you are
typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will
be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.
But if
you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled
years, you may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own---seems
to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.
And at moments when you least expect anything our of the ordinary to happen,
you may feel
something brush against your leg--very very lightly.
And looking
down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay---you
will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely be painful,
and leave an ache in your heart---As time passes the ache will come and go as
it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may
confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will
deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when---along with the memory of
your pet---and
piercing through the heaviness in your heart---there will come a realization
that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship
with each animal we have loved,
and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love---like the heavenly
scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain
and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is
the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with
us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves
leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets--it is a Love that we will always possess.
-Written by
Martin Scot Kosins,
Author of "Maya's First Rose"
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