It is Memorial Day, when we remember those we have lost, and so this week I would like to honor all our friends at Rainbow Bridge, and four in particular.
First there is the dog who brought us all together, Tanner Bub.
For those of you who don't know, let me tell the story of the Tanner Brigade. A long, long time ago, at a website far, far, away, we all belonged to a group called Doggyspace. Tanner Bub and I were good friends there. But there was a lot of drama, fighting, and meanness around the site then. There was one pup, well, it wasn't really a pup, just a guy who pretended to have a pup, who was writing some very rude things. Tanner's Mom made a mistake and listed his name in a comment to one of my blogs. Now this mistake came from a very emotional place. Tanner's Mom had just found out he had cancer and would be going to the bridge soon. Sorrow causes humans to lash out at night. But in the morning she realized her error, e-mailed me, and asked me to remove the comment she had made. I removed the comment. But an hour later we were informed that Tanner's account had been deleted. We sent a very nice message to Levi, the owner of Doggyspace, asking that Tanner's account be reactivated so we could help him and his Mom through the difficult days ahead. His response should be read at every Tanner Brigade anniversary because it was the insensitive words and incredible misuse of the English language that were the seeds of what became our close net group.
"“As you know the rules are laid out clear, and we can not allow this bickering to continue, nor slander. It may be unforchunit for her personaly, however she knew she should not have done that before she even posted it, and we can not make exceptions in this case due to the size of the event. Dont expect it to be the last eather, the entire admin/support team are hunting down anyone that was part of the event on bothsides as its a clear break of the community rules. Its sad to see so many adults act like children."
I sent a private message to my closest friends at DS telling the story and attaching the message. The response was the same, they were all angry. My sending the PM caused my account to be suspended. Writing about the situation on my own blog site caused my account the be deleted.
We took a brief refuge at Doggyweb, but on the night Tanner went to the bridge, many of us signed up under phony names on Doggyspace, and posted our profile picture as Tanners. Many DS members changed their profile pic to Tanner's and that night you couldn't go to a page on DS without seeing Tanner's photo. But that bad human, who was pretending to own a dog, came on Doggyweb, and celebrated Tanner's passing while lashing out at all the members. The next day the Tanner Brigade was born.
Just before Tanner died he married Sophie.
Sophe is just about the sweetest dog I know. Even from the Bridge she sends us lovely messages and make us feel so loved. There are now three dogs living in Sophie's old house. That's how many dogs it takes to fill the void left by a wonderful dog like Sophie.
Our third pup is Hershey.
I can't find better words to explain why Hershey deserves this then Hershey's words. This is his message to his Mom from Rainbow Bridge, but be warned, you will need your tissues. You can read it here.
Our last pup of the week is Baron otherwise known as Bear Bear.
This week Bear did the most important work a Bear the the Bridge can do. But Bear hasn't posted it here. His Mom did on Facebook. So I won't spill the secret here, I'll just say Bear's work here is done, but as Hershey says so perfectly, they never leave us.
So here is to all our dogs at the Bridge, and all the Moms and Dads we have lost, brothers and sister too. Someday we will all be together. And we won't have to call up a web address to see a friend, but simply think of them and they will be there. Until then, Bridge Angels like Tanner, Sophie, Hershey and Bear will be there to watch over us.
First there is the dog who brought us all together, Tanner Bub.
"“As you know the rules are laid out clear, and we can not allow this bickering to continue, nor slander. It may be unforchunit for her personaly, however she knew she should not have done that before she even posted it, and we can not make exceptions in this case due to the size of the event. Dont expect it to be the last eather, the entire admin/support team are hunting down anyone that was part of the event on bothsides as its a clear break of the community rules. Its sad to see so many adults act like children."
I sent a private message to my closest friends at DS telling the story and attaching the message. The response was the same, they were all angry. My sending the PM caused my account to be suspended. Writing about the situation on my own blog site caused my account the be deleted.
We took a brief refuge at Doggyweb, but on the night Tanner went to the bridge, many of us signed up under phony names on Doggyspace, and posted our profile picture as Tanners. Many DS members changed their profile pic to Tanner's and that night you couldn't go to a page on DS without seeing Tanner's photo. But that bad human, who was pretending to own a dog, came on Doggyweb, and celebrated Tanner's passing while lashing out at all the members. The next day the Tanner Brigade was born.
Just before Tanner died he married Sophie.
Sophe is just about the sweetest dog I know. Even from the Bridge she sends us lovely messages and make us feel so loved. There are now three dogs living in Sophie's old house. That's how many dogs it takes to fill the void left by a wonderful dog like Sophie.
Our third pup is Hershey.
I can't find better words to explain why Hershey deserves this then Hershey's words. This is his message to his Mom from Rainbow Bridge, but be warned, you will need your tissues. You can read it here.
Our last pup of the week is Baron otherwise known as Bear Bear.
This week Bear did the most important work a Bear the the Bridge can do. But Bear hasn't posted it here. His Mom did on Facebook. So I won't spill the secret here, I'll just say Bear's work here is done, but as Hershey says so perfectly, they never leave us.
So here is to all our dogs at the Bridge, and all the Moms and Dads we have lost, brothers and sister too. Someday we will all be together. And we won't have to call up a web address to see a friend, but simply think of them and they will be there. Until then, Bridge Angels like Tanner, Sophie, Hershey and Bear will be there to watch over us.
We can't believe how mean some humans can be but we are sure without dogs to guide them they might be even meaner. It's a hard job, but civilizing humans is something dogs try so hard to do.
ReplyDeleteSeems like yesterday that all this happened. I love the part about "the entire admin/support team", This Team consisted of 4 or 5 people max. That's why so much drama was allowed to go on because nobody was around watching the site.
ReplyDeleteWe will always miss Bear, he was like the wise old elder that Erin looked up to. They were all great furfriends that left their pawprints on more hearts then they ever thought possible.
What a lovely tribute for these pups. And wow, it does not seem all that long ago that this happened.
ReplyDeleteMan, it all seems like yesterday. The drama, storming the castle, and finally finding our own place on TB. We could have let that "unforchunit" event let us all drift apart, but you brought us together stronger, better and happier than before. Pure awesomeness at it's best. Proud to be TB :)
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