May 31, 2015 Pup of the Week: Angel Simon and the True Meaning of Rainbow Bridge

   

Have you ever heard of that Benjamin Button movie?  It’s about this Daddy who lives his life backwards.  Life on the Immortal side of the River can be like living life backwards, at least when it comes to mortal life.  We meet someone after their mortal lives ends, learn how they crossed the river, and slowly learn about their lives backwards.  The last story we hear is about their birth litter.

I met Angel Simon at the beginning of the year.  He had spent 16 years on the mortal side, quite a long time, his latter years spent with his young Mom.  They had a very strong bond and both were having difficulty being without one another.  I sent Simon into his Mom’s dreams to tell her the right to people to reach out to over the Internet for comfort and I made sure Simon met the right pups to help him after they lost their Doggyspace home.

Simon’s beloved Mom Emily was not his first Mom.  He lived with a family for nine years.  Then that family got a new dog.  Simon and the new dog did not get along.  Inexplicably the family turned Simon over to a rescue.  The poor boy was lost.  But it turned out to be the best thing to happen to him.

A short time later he was saved, and in turn saved his Mom who had recently lost the grandmother who helped raise her and her childhood dog.  Hs Mom said their eyes locked and it was love at first sight.  They were inseparable.  They went to the same places, and they slept on the same bed, and when Simon could no longer climb on the bed it was gone.  His Mom put her mattress on the floor where the two happily snuggled together.

I don’t know the circumstances of their parting.  I do know it was sudden and Simon was in discomfort.  The vet had to help him go.  But the memories of their separation are still too fresh for both of them.  And it may be that way forever.  But that’s OK.  The end isn’t important.  It is all the love that came before the end that matters.

Simon spends most of his day watching over his Mom.  He is learning some angel tricks.  He is entering her dreams and his presence is so strong she can remember them in the morning.  He also leaves behind some of his hair as a reminder that he was just home.

But mostly Simon spends his day lying in the grass thinking of his Mom and somewhere his Mom is thinking about him.  One day I was watching him, and the sun reached the perfect point in the sky, and extending from Simon and going high in the air all the way to his Mom was the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen.  And Simon made me realize why it is called Rainbow Bridge.  When we are thinking about how much we love our parents, and our parents are thinking about how much they love us, we create a rainbow and said rainbow is how Rainbow Bridge got it’s name.

After that I began noticing more rainbows rising out of my friends and heading off to maintain that unbreakable bond between parent and child.  

Those of you on the mortal side of the River, if you see a rainbow, know that one of your Bridge babies is thinking of you, and it is creating this beautiful multicolored bridge made of love, and remember Angel Simon who taught me what rainbows are. 

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: The Warm Up Angels

This is a picture of my garden.  I am very proud of it.  During the long, cold, snowy winter I would enter Mommy’s dreams and we would spend all night planning every plant and flower down to the final detail. But we were not prepared for two additions.

The first can barely be seen.  It is a pink rose bush.  It is a shoot from Daddy’s grandfather’s rose bush. It is wrapped around the small black trellis at the bottom of the picture.   Daddy’s cousin Jan had been the caretaker of the family flower and we were honored to share caretaking duties although I was not sure I wanted the rose bush in my garden but Mommy assured me with a little luck we would soon have lovely pink roses to put a smile on the face of my blue lady.

The second detail was my angel.  For two years after my passing my angel lit up my garden at night.  It spent the winter in the shed where it would be safe and unburied.  Early in the spring Daddy took it out of the shed and planted it at the edge of my garden by the bush Hobo Hudson’s parents sent me.  But when the sunset my angel would not come to light.

Mommy and I knew what we had to do.  It was time for a new angel.  She found a special angel that lit even brighter and changed color.  Mommy ordered it and a few days later it arrived.

Daddy took it out of the package and put it in the ground.  I couldn’t wait to see it.  I was sure it would be the prettiest angel ever.  Daddy took the old angel, the one who looked over my garden for two years, the one that shone all night long and let my parents know I was thinking of them, and brought it over to the trash barrel.  

Suddenly I realized I could not let my angel go.  It had served me so loyally.  It is very difficult for an angel to change something on the mortal side of the bridge but I concentrated on my original angel as much as I could.  Daddy had placed it in the trash and was closing the top when I made the angel light up for the first time this spring.

Daddy saw it glowing and removed it from the trash.  He brought it over to the garden and put it opposite the new angel and waited for night time.  Right at dusk, before my new angel lit up, the old angel shined brightly.  it didn’t shine for long, and was extinguished shortly after my new brighter, more colorful angel lit up.

I am so happy my original angel is shining again if only for a short time.  I have my original angel, now my warm angel, shine first, until my main angel comes on.  I love having two angels in my garden.  And I am so glad my warm up angel is working again 

Wordless Wednesday

1,000 Blogs by Pocket Dog

Six years ago, on May 9th to be exact, after being blocked from DS, and having lost all the blogs we wrote on that site, an angry and determined Foley Monster decided to start her own blog:  One where she could bark whatever was on her mind and fight for the rights of dogs everywhere.  She named it the Foley Monster and Pocket blog.

I was touched that my sister included my name in the blog title.  I thought it was honorary until I learned she expected me to provide content.  For Foley writing was easy.  She could spin a tail, turn an everyday occurrence into an epic story and write loving tributes to our friends.  Foley took blogging very seriously. As for me I was more interested in a warm bed, some tasty kibble and a lap of kindness.  But when Foley told me to step up and blog I did it.  Making her angry is never a recommended option.  

Over the years we started our Pup of the Week blog on Sunday, Wordless Wednesday, Ask Aunt Foley, on Fridays, and thanks to Kol’s Notes  (http://kolchakpuggle.com/) Mom Jodi Chick we updated our web page design and changed the name to Small Tales.

Then two years ago next week Foley accepted a position as a judge at Rainbow Bridge and she left us.  I did not know what would happen to the blog.  I certainly could not take it over full time, I had neither her talent or her drive.  But Foley would not let something like moving to the immortal side of the River of Life keep her from blogging.  She now reports from her post at the top of the lift leading to Rainbow Bridge, assuring parents that their beloved pets have arrived, and how they are coping with their new immortal life.

And now we have my younger sister River Song blogging with us..  I think my blogs, which are sweet and innocent are more of a draw than River’s, who is always bitchy and complaining, but I must admit whenever we put a glaring picture of River on the blog we always get more hits.

Last year we published Small Tales, The Adventures of Two Tiny Terrierists, our first blog collection, and Foley is currently editing “Tails From Rainbow Bridge” a collection of blogs she has written about friends who have crossed the River of Life.

Last month we wrote our one thousandth blog.  The blog has changed a lot over time.  When Foley was with us there were wild balloon rides, White House visits, and raids on castles.  River and I have settled into a quieter lives with less fanciful adventures, although Foley assures us that River is growing into a dog who is capable of disastrous decisions that could lead to fun and mayhem.  Regardless Foley always has been and always will be our main voice..

Thank you for sticking with us through 1,000 blogs.  I think about 260 of them were pretty good.  Not a great batting average but the pictures have always been cute.  We love nothing better than to comfort parents who are sad and to gives smiles here and there.

Hopefully we will give you reason to stick with us over the next 1,000 blogs.

http://www.amazon.com/Small-Tales-Adventures-Tiny-Terriers/dp/1500982326/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1429896097&sr=8-3&keywords=small+tales+the+adventures

Reese, Kole and Angel Meika are our May 24, 2015 Pup of the Week

We think our parents would be used to it..  The vomiting, the unexplained sudden weight loss, the loss of appetite, and the inability to explain what is going on inside..  It happens to us dogs a lot.  But when it happens to one of our parents it is much scarier.  We are hindered by our inability to communicate.  Since humans have no such hindrances when no one knows what is wrong with them it is very troubling.

It has been a week since Reese, Kole, and Angel Meika’s Uncle Rob, one of their two Dads, has shown such symptoms.  He lies tonight in a hospital in St. Louis, seven hours away from his family, with no answers, and the cause of much worry.

Rob has been sick for some time but he has been managing his illness until last week.  In the past years he has spent many nights in the hospital and has had operations.  

There is nothing scarier for a dog then when one of their parents is missing.  Since Rob found him abandoned on the street a year ago Kole has rarely strayed from Rob’s side.  Now Kole lays on the bed waiting for Rob to join him, not understanding where his friend went, or when he will come home.

I often write about how lost humans are without their dogs but when it is the human who is missing it affects us dogs ten times more than it affects humans.  It is why we need to go first.  Our parents can, over time, deal with our loss, but pups aren’t equipped with dealing with the loss of a parent, even temporarily.

While not knowing where Rob is has been terribly stressful on Reese and Kole, Angel Meika does know where Rob is, and has spent nights, while Rob is sleeping, cuddled next to him, Meika is very scared too.  She is an angel, and watches over her family, but there are limits to what angels can do.  Meika brings comfort to Rob, her Dad, and her siblings, but she can’t cure what is wrong, and most of her days are spent nervously waiting.

Rob entered the hospital at the start of the week and then was transferred to St. Louis.   After two days of confusion the medical professionals decided to operate mid-week.  Reese and Kole’s father Jeff began the seven hour trek to St Louis..  Half way there he got a call that the surgery had been postponed until Friday.

On Friday Jeff made the seven hour trip to be with Rob during the operation. Minutes before surgery Jeff learned it had been canceled.  The hospital did not have enough of Rob’s blood in storage..  The surgery was postponed to Wednesday..

   

Jeff had to make a seven hour trip back home.  He expected Reese and Kole from nervousness and  lack of attention to have either destroyed the house,or at least soiled it.  But our friends knew their parents were scared and they were perfect gentlemen who spent the day calmly waiting for one of their Dads to return.

Money was tight with Reese and Kole’s family before this ordeal.  Their computer has gone to  the Computer Bridged and they don’t have money to replace it as this time so they can all communicate by Facebook and texts right now.  Despite not being connected to all of us they do need our prayers this week so both their Dads can be back home with them and the madness ends.

Currently Reese and Kole have been showing signs of stress with bad appetites and indigestion.  The situation, for this wonderful family, is getting worse.  

We are praying you come home safe and sound and snuggle with Kole again.  He needs you.

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Fred

During my first weeks of public life, after I first joined the late Doggyspace, I made many friends.  But one of the friends had already shed his mortal coil and gone to the Bridge.  I had never had a friend on the immortal side of the River but one night Fred popped into my dreams and showed me the paradise that awaited me when I crossed over.

Fred arrived at the Bridge before dogs began social networking.  The crowds that now greet pups who cross the River were not there when Fred climbed the stairs.  Just  personal friends and family members.  But as soon as his Mom’s dogs, Junior and Luca, got online and made thousands of friends, whenever one of those pups crossed the River Fred was there to greet them.

Before dogs began blogging learning how to adapt to life at the Bridge was an adjustment for new angels  but Fred began teaching them their duties as soon as they got their wings.  He not only taught them how to be angels for their pups and parents but he trained them on how to teach others to do the same.

Now there is an army of dogs waiting at the Bridge, myself included, to greet our friends and to train them the way Fred trained us.  To honor Fred I recently appointed him an Angel Captain.

We haven’t barked as much with Junior and Luca was we would like in the last few years.  Human issues crept up and blocked block our barks.  We know their wonderful Mom would like to giver her dogs the Freedom to Bark they had in the past and hopefully they will in the future.

But for us angels at the Bridge we have Fred to bark with everyday.  And we are better angels for it.

Wordless Wednesday