Foley's Tales from Rainbow Bridge: Cinnamon

Dogs are people's constants. We are home more than 99 percent of the time. Parents take comfort in knowing that we are there when they get up in the morning, happy to see them. We are there when they are sick when they celebrate, and when they spend a day doing nothing (we are excellent company when you're doing nothing.) In a world where you can't count on anything, we can be counted on for everything.

         Then, some dogs are constants for all dogs.

         Cinnamon was one of those dogs.

         Since 2005, we could count on Cinnamon popping up in blogs and comments, always with something sweet.

         She was my only friend from Australia; he loved telling us about his native land. I wish I had visited him, especially when our winter was summer.

         She lived in the lower part of the world for 17 years and lived in the opposite time, too. Her day was our night, so there was only a tiny window of time to interact with her, and we took every chance we got.

         When something is there for 17 years, you start to take it for granted. Cinnamon survived illnesses and a vicious dog attack and came through shining. I was sure she would never join me at the Bridge.

         That is why, even at the grand age of 17, I was shocked when I read on my iPad that Cinnamon would soon arrive at the Bridge. As the years built up, his parents, one on the other, wondered if Cinnamon would keep on going against all odds.

         The odds may forget about us, but never for long, and, after 17 years and much too soon, Cinnamon, with the help of us parents, shrugged off her mortal coil for a new, shiny, moral one.

         Cinnamon had made so many friends in her time, many of whom were born and transitioned to the Bridge during his lifetime, that Hobo's Landing, where I swore in new angels, was packed.

         Cinnamon was sad leaving his parents, but she had given everything she had to the mortal side, and while she didn't like it, she accepted it was her time to be an angel and held her head up high as she crossed the Bridge, knowing she had lived life to the fullest.

         A hearty cheer exploded around me as Cinnamon approached. She took time greeting everyone with a smile and a lick because she knew the secret: kindness is always exemplary, and if we all lifted one another, no one would ever be down.

         We know she left a massive hole in her parent's heart. There is no pain like losing a beloved constant, especially after 17 years. But they will have a mighty angel and friends on their side because no one gets through it without them.

         There is a new bright star on the southern side, and it is called Cinnamon.