RAINBOW BRIDGE STORY
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 and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All 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 to them; someone who had to be 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 quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him 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 the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together . . . .
Author unknown.
CAT HEAVEN
by Cynthia Rylant
The way to Cat Heaven is a field of sweet grass
where crickets and butterflies play.
A cat may be late in getting to Heaven . . .
there's so much fun on the way!
But an angel will wait
at the yellow front door,
wait til a kitty comes home.
And when she arrives,
he'll give her a kiss
and some milk
in a bowl all her own.
There are trees in Cat Heaven,
trees made just for cats,
trees growing
so green and so high.
But no one gets stuck in a tree anymore --
if a cat wants down,
she will fly!
And oh the toys,
kitty toys everywhere,
thousands and thousands go by.
There are buttons and baubles
and small cotton mice --
there is catnip afloat
in the sky!
There are angels,
of course,
with soft angel laps
where kitties can purr
loud and strong.
The angels will rub
kitties' noses and ears
and sing them
a Cat Heaven song.
And when cats are hungry,
there's God's kitchen counter
all covered with white kitty dishes,
full of tuna and salmon
and mounds of sardines,
and wonderful little pink fishes.
The cats in Cat Heaven
are so loved and spoiled
God lets them all lie on his bed . . .
He walks in His garden
with a good black book
and a kitty asleep on His head.
Then when a cat needs,
she may just simply ponder
and watch the blue world deep and wide . . .
She will watch the old house
where she once lived and wandered,
and the people who loved her inside.
All cats love Heaven,
they know the way there,
they know where the angel cats fly.
They'll run past the stars
and the moon and the sun . . .
. . . to curl up with God in the sky.
(Dedicated by Cynthia Rylant to Caps, Nick and Edward VelvetPaws)
There are some wonderful sites to help you at this time. One that I highly recommend is PETLOSS. They are a gentle and helpful site. There are some wonderful stories, poems, links, all to help you cry; to help you remember your friend; to help with the pain.
I too love animals so much, and have lost some of my good friends. If you want to talk, please write me at quanah@look.ca. I can offer an ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on. Know that you are not alone at this time.
