Tails From Rainbow Bridge: The Foley Statue

It has taken two years, a lot of hard work, several prototypes, the disciplining of many minions, and countless sleepless nights but the Foley Monster statue has finally been completed.  Here is the finished product.

The statue was commissioned by my parents to go in my garden (where my ashes were to go but are still kept in the house) next to the lovely plant Hobo Hudson sent us.   There would be a ticket booth built outside the garden and for a small fee pups and humans could walk my garden and gaze at my statue.

When the statue arrived it had a lot of this white packing stuff on it.  Some was stuck in the teeth.  More was on the fur.  Mommy picked it up.  Suddenly I was in the statue.  Mommy carried me to the kitchen sink and she softly washed me with a face cloth like she used to and then put me on the counter to dry.  When she did she rubbed my ears and talked to me.

When she removed her hands I popped out again.  I realized I would be in the statue whenever Mommy put her hands on it.  The statue couldn’t go in the garden!  I would be out in the rain, the hot sun, my bright eyes would fade, my perfect fur would change.  I hoped Mommy knew this.

Then I calmed down and listened to Mommy and Daddy.  They were sitting at the table talking about how much it looked like me.  They began to pet it again and I was there, on the table, just like I used to be, and they were petting me.  At that moment the message came through:  They could not put me in the garden leaving me exposed to the elements.

They put me on my table, next to my ashes, with my mug, my gavel, and Pam Bolton’s card.  I am facing Mommy’s chair.  Sometimes she looks at me, and talks to me, and when she does I am in the statue watching over her.  I know some people would think Mom is crazy for talking to a statue but pet parents will understand how normal, and comforting it can be.

Mommy and Daddy give me a head scratch before they go to bed at night, when they wake up in the morning, and sometimes while passing by.  It feels so wonderful to experience human touch again.

They say you can’t go home again but the truth is you can, if only for minutes at a time.