Heidi the Dog Comes to Rainbow Bridge (Re-edited from yesteday)

 

 

I was sleeping when I felt a cold nose pressing against me.  I opened my eyes and saw a wolf looking at me sadly.  I jumped out of bed, forgetting that wolves are harmless here; it’s days of eating us babies far in the past.  Then, I  realized it wasn’t a wolf at all but my friend Heidi the Wolf Dog.  When I saw her sad eyes, I knew why she had awoken me.  

    Behind Heidi, Missy Diva, a Yorkie, even more,    pampered than me, and a cat Meow Meow was sitting in my reading chair talking.  I heard Missy Diva complimenting my window treatments, while Meow Meow complained that I did not have cat treats.  While I would like to speak to the little duo, it was Heidi who needed my help.

    Two days prior, Heidi was helped to the Bridge by her momma Tracy after having battled kidney disease.  That is a challenging road to travel. Peeing is something everyone takes for granted until they can’t.  Heidi bravely battled the illness to stay with her mom.  When Tracy saw that Heidi’s life was too painful for her baby to go on, she helped her travel to the next world. 

    The Bridge was crowded the day Heidi crossed.  Being adept at social media helped Heidi make friends throughout the world. Those who preceded her to the Bridge, along with Meow Meow, Missy Diva, and the other pets who had lived with Momma Tracy, impatiently awaited their friend’s arrival.  Heidi slowly moved over the Bridge, often looking back, not wanting to leave her mom, and looking over her shoulder, hoping to see a way back.

    Unfortunately, there is no returning to the mortal side in corporal form. Missy Diva and Meow Meow promised to teach her how to visit their mom in dreams, as ghosts, and as other small animals, but nothing she curbed Momma Tracy’s grief.  Before Heidi passed, she always made her mom feel better.  She would not have come to the Bridge if she knew those days were ending.

    This often happens when a dog crosses over, especially when they have those last precious moments together when the human tells their beloved pet that they will be fine alone and not worry about those left behind because they are strong and will be okay. It isn’t a lie; it is just something humans say to ease the dogs’ transfer.  Heidi understood that.  But, she wished it had been confirmed, and her mom was as fine as the day they first met.  

    I asked Heidi if she remembered her first days with her birth mom.  Heidi, a brilliant dog, said she did.  Then I asked if she recalled feeding off her mom, and she nodded.  “Even if you are not there to take it, her body continues to produce milk,” I explained.  “And, over time, it builds up and begins to ache.  It is the same with a mother’s love.  She keeps producing it, but there is no one to receive it, and her entire body aches.  Over time, the milk and the love recede, but it takes time, and since it is a physical ache, there is nothing to stop it except to wait.”

    Heidi asked me what she should do.  “The hardest thing of all, to wait.”  Dogs are not good at it, but angels need to be:  The learning curve is steep.  

    Heidi asked me how to do that, and I patted the bed and told her a secret:  Snuggling is the best way to pass the time.  She laid down, and her siblings joined us.

    Waiting is hell, but snuggling makes everything bearable.