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Rainbow Bridge

Updated on January 19, 2015
VladimirCat profile image

Vladimir is a former champion ratter (retired). His hobbies are bushwalking, birdwatching and nature studies

Rainbow Bridge
Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of Heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge

I don't want to upset you, but Life is not just a bowl of cherries. It's not even a bowl of kibble. There's more in this world than the simple joys of napping in the patch of sun on the kitchen floor. Life is not always nice

Life is also about sadness, about grief when we lose friends and dear companions. Our human friends pass away, and our animal companions cross the rainbow bridge. But we will all meet up again, or so they say. (I want to believe!)

I can see myself, miraculously hale in limb with all my teeth restored, chasing the recidivist Indian Mynas while the woman who feeds me (herself miraculously restored to youth and beauty) prepares small snacks of salmon for us both

Is there a Rainbow Bridge?

Is there a Rainbow Bridge? Could there be such a place where all of us meet up again?

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,

Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.

Where the friends of man and woman do run,

When their time on earth is over and done.

Here, between this world and next,

each beloved creature finds rest.

The rainbow bridge
The rainbow bridge

Waiting at the 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 to them, 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

This print is on the woman's wall. A little too sentimental for me but there's no accounting for taste. The artist is Gail Hogan.

Farewell Zenobia - The Duck who came to stay

Vladimir looking out the window
Vladimir looking out the window

Yes, you can make friends with a duck. Zenobia had her own Facebook page with her story of why she came to stay.

See you at the Bridge, my feathered friend.

The Heaven of Animals

The first verse - James L. Dickey

Here they are. The soft eyes open.

If they have lived in a wood

It is a wood.

If they have lived on plains

It is grass rolling

Under their feet forever.

Having no souls, they have come,

Anyway, beyond their knowing.

Their instincts wholly bloom

And they rise.

The soft eyes open.

Farewell Chester

Chester, now at the rainbow bridge
Chester, now at the rainbow bridge

Farewell, my Fearless Friend

Chester was a bold rooftop cat, a fearless explorer of backyard jungles, a savage hunter of small things scurrying in the grasses, a keen aircraft-spotter, a fierce and diligent house-guard. He was as game as Ned Kelly. Goodbye to a fearless cat

See you at the Bridge, Chester.

Let's remember

All the companions who have touched our souls...

See you at the Bridge, Joe



This rainbow appeared when Joe's ashes were scattered on the creek.

Joe was a pal of mine, I'd known him most of my life. (He was younger than me too, only 16 when he crossed).

Joe's Rainbow

Candle Lighting Ceremony

Each evening the woman who feeds me lights three candles.

A Candle, she says is a luminous symbol of the human spirit.

The first candle represents Grief in memory of those who are no longer with us.

The second candle is the light of Love. We must cherish the special places in our hearts for our friends, she says, and thank them for the gift of friendship.

The third candle is the light of Hope. May the glow of this flame be the source of hopefulness now and forever, says the woman. She swears by the candles, claiming that it's not only the simplest ritual to create, but that satisfies a primal human need.

I certainly find that simply gazing at the hypnotic flickering flame is relaxing and conducive to a meditative, reflective mood. The flicker soothes me, it calms and heals. And I remember my friend Joe, the fat tabby.

© 2009 Vladimir

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