Two years ago, this very week, my dear friend, Raider joined me at the Rainbow Bridge. His mom Gina and his dad were heartbroken.
Raider set his mind on a single goal: He needed to find another dog to help rebuild his parents’ heart.
He soon found Presley. Raider managed to bring them together, and then he rested.
Two years later, under sudden, and tragic circumstances, Presley has joined Raider at the Bridge.
It takes five minutes to fall in love with a dog. It takes 50 years to stop mourning a dog’s passing. It seems that, after falling in love in five minutes, and facing a lifetime of mourning, a parent should get more than two years with a pup.
When I first arrived at the Bridge and was confronted with a dog’s passing, too tragic, and too soon, like Presley, I would fly up to the top of the tallest mountain to confront the Big Guy. He always had a reason: Dogs age given only so many heartbeats; when Romey passed too young he told me that every soul’s passing is unfair; when Tupper became and Angel, he told me men were made in his image so if man was fallible so was he; when Cooper’s mortal journey ended the Big Guy said life should be measured in love and not days lived; Angel Apollo, when his sister Shakira joined us, told me to never question the Big Guy’s motives; and when Logan passed Big Guy ordered me to mourn the bad but remember the good.
I didn’t visit the Big Guy after Raider and Presley were united here at the Bridge. I don’t know if I had heard it all, or if I didn’t want to hear any more. Maybe all these passings had caused me to lose faith in his wisdom.
The next day, when Rabbit arrived, after eating a mushroom, another foolish, useless death, my belief in the Big Guy’s reasons faded even more.
I would like to tell you that my faith has been restored. Right now that would be a lie. Presley’s mom’s tears, coming after the tears for Raider have barely dried, and the tears for Rabbit have washed away my faith.
But I still have a belief that I will rediscover my faith: When a rescued dog licks his parent for the first time, when prayers are answered and a sick dog is healthy again, and when a human and a dog stare into one another’s eyes, and the love is so strong, I can feel it in my heart and makes me feel like it will burst.
I hope that Presley’s parents and that Rabbit’s mom can find their faith too.
Faith is a terrible thing to lose.
Almost as bad a losing a beloved pup.
