Foley's Tails From Rainbow Bridge - Molly the Relunctant Angel

 

I have been at the Bridge, performing my duties as a judge, including swearing in new members, for 13 years. You would think a dog transitioning to the Bridge would not surprise me, but when Molly the Airedale passed I was stunned.

I knew our friend was suffering from dementia, which manifested itself by causing her to chew her paws, to the point that they were bloody and raw. My last contact with her was last Tuesday when she helped her Mommy make something delicious, and then, after a period with no paw chewing, Molly began again.

I planned on checking with Molly with a group of angels the next morning to try and encourage her not to chew, but only one angel appeared, Molly’s brother Mitch, and when I saw him, I knew Molly was on her way.

Molly, appeared, on the ghost side of the River of Life, near the Bridge, which she had to cross, or be sentenced to an eternity on the mortal side, where she would appear as a ghost, but never know love again, which is why Mitch ran over to the other side, and brought his sister to the immortal side.

We could both tell that Molly for the first time in months that she could think clearly and wanted to go back, even if it meant taking back all the pain and going back to existing in the fog that had plagued her in the final days.

“I pledged to my mom that I would never leave her,” a teary-eyed Molly insisted. “For richer and poorer, through sickness and in health.”

“You are forgetting the words added to the pet version, first to death do us part, followed by ‘and after that,” I explained. This was just a pause in the mother and dog relationship, and when they are reunited the worries and illnesses that had plagued them would be gone, and there is nothing ahead but joy.

Molly nodded, but her thoughts were on her mom, who had lost much more than a dog: A friend, a therapist, a companion, a soul mate, and the one constant in her life, always home, waiting to see her, exploding with joy each time she got home, and keeping the love flowing between them. Without Molly, that love, which always needs to move, stagnates in her, causing crippling pain.

It was Mitch who told Molly why she had to go to the Bridge. “If Mom only had one dog in her life, it wouldn’t be either of us, and we would have lived sad, long lives. But, by cutting down our life spans, we give other dogs the chance to love our mom. It is our gift to other dogs.”

Molly nodded, understanding her situation, and slowly accepting it. Mitch told her there were two important duties before her: One was to find a new dog for their mom so that the love stuck inside her could move again, and the other was to play like puppies.

They began zooming together like they had when they were kids.

For every passing, there is a reunion, which is as happy as the passing is sad.

Their running together was a sign of better days to come.

I hope for Molly’s mom the better days come quickly and ease the greatest pain of all.

It is dark now, but light and happiness always win.

At least on the immortal side.

Poetry Thursday

Once again, Angel Sammys and Teddys Pawetaton have provided us with a photo for Poetry Thursday.

At one point in his 25-year career

Klondike was a big star.

But he couldn’t stop sniffing camera people’s rear.

Which leads to big problems with HR.

 

Klondike was a very proud bear on the day he was hired.

Being a coco-cola spokesbear brought him great enjoyment.

But last week poor Klondike was fired.

And had to go into the city to file for unemployment.

 

First Klondike went to sensitivity training.

At a clinic behind the zoo

But the staff would not stop complaining.

And Klondike became a victim of #Metoo

 

His agent tried to save Klondike’s career.

And Klondike giving a press conference was his wish.

But the beat admitted he smelled woman’s rear.

Because it smelled like fish.

 

Klondike realized his career was over.

And was left with nothing be despair.

He thought he would be in clover.

If the woman had just used Lume.

 

At unemployment Klondike was denied

He didn’t have a prayer.

It wasn’t because of charges both made and implied

He couldn’t collect because he was a bear.

 

Undeterred Klondike swore he would get work.

But he had to return to Alaska after he did something disconcerting.

And forever label him an unprofessional jerk

He got caught on the subway his head in a dress and his nose upskirting.

 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Monday Question

 What is the oldest thing in your house that has been used by pets long before you moved into the house, and do you still use it?

 Ruby's answer: As you may have gussed it is Foley's Leopard skin vagina condo. It has been in our house for 14 years and Foley, Pocket, River and I have all used it

The Ruby Rose Report: A Garden of Worry

I am very worried about my garden.

Every spring, we venture out to work on the yard, which attracts all our elderly neighbors, who comment on how beautiful the property is. The good thing about living in an incontinent and older park is that everyone reacts to the gardens like they are new because the people who lived in their houses died over the winter and were replaced or slipped further into senility.

April is one of the most important months when it comes to landscaping. While there is little in bloom and looks sparse, it is the time when Mommy and her dogs, now me, plan the year’s work.

But, Mommy’s back, and knees, are making it impossible for her to work outside, at least for now, and my dad, who is more laborer than thinker has begun the work in the gardens.

We have told Daddy what needs to be done, but he is tired, and is as sharp as the eraser end of a pencil,

Plus, he is gullible, which usually works for me, and leads to me getting three treats whenever he goes into the kitchen to get a cookie. But there are new players involved, ones I cannot trust.

Mrs. Haversham and Dora, the feral cats, have made e their presence known under the house. The other night, just before light was out, one of them jumped on the outdoor rocker, slamming it into the house, and causing everyone to lose sleep, because I ran around and barked at them to be quiet for an hour.

I can smell mother and child cat watching my dad work and whispering in a manner that causes simple people to think they are having original thoughts. I am sure they are influencing him, and our gardens.

I discovered that cat like odd plants like Irish Moss and Ice Plants. We already have Rose of Sharon and Phlox. How long have then been planning this garden takeover?

I know they would live lots of mulch to poop in, and bird baths they can drink from. If I hear Dad is buying catnip I may have to put my paw down.

First, the cats take over your yard, then your house.

They are an especially tricky species.

And I will remain forever vigilant: Inside and out.

Foley's Tales From Rainbow Bridge : Lightning Strikes

 

This week, at Rainbow Bridge, a place that always has good weather, Lightning lit the sky. It wasn’t from a storm but because my bestie Lightning had arrived.

If the only reason for passing over is running out of heartbeats then Lightning would have stayed mortal for years because no one has a bigger, or more reliable heart.

If only his other muscles and bones had been as strong.

We all owe, from out first breaths, a trip to the Bridge, and when one, like Lightning, refuses to leave his mortal family and exists on a backlog of heartbeats, they take away his ability to move, which happened to Lightning, the once athletic, activity loving dog was reduced to lying in his bed, sometimes not having the strength to stand and relieve himself.

His parents knew how much Lightning wanted to be with them. He would have sacrificed everything to stay in his normal spot under the table, but because he is strongly loved, his parents made the hardest decision, to take on all the pain and sadness that Lightning was suffering from themselves and free him to be a strong, healthy puppy albert away from them, at the Bridge.

Pets are the only souls who, while facing the end, will gaze at the person who is bringing his transition, and look at them with all the love in the world, which Lightning did, in his final seconds, swearing to his parents his eternal love.

Inside his former home, the silence of his paw falls, barks, and breathing have drowned out any comforting sounds nature had to soothe his parents’, and siblings, Misty and Timber’s pain. But the silence slowly fades, as does their pain, and, while recovering is too tall an order, they get used to the pain, and can accept healing love again.

Meanwhile, although he misses his family, and wishes he was with them, he is running free with those from his pack who preceded him, Dakota, Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara. He visits his pack members, Misty, and Timber, in their dreams, which seem, for now, to confuse them, but soon will comfort them.

He visits his parents too, but they don’t recall the dream, someday, when they awaken, his passing won’t be the first thing they think of, and that is the morning after their mind accepts the dream visits and knows they will be together again.

When the Bridge gets a new angel there is a fresh star in the sky, but Lightning will be represented by the flashing bolts that light up the night sky.

From now on don’t look at Lightning as being scary.

It is just a treasured dog telling his parents he loves them.

 

 

Poetry Thursday

   

Once again, Angel Sammys and Teddys Pawetaton have provided us with a photo for Poetry Thursday.

Toby knew it was his last day

And by next morning he would away

So he vowed to live the day to the fullest

And complete what he had listed on his bucket list

The first was morning snuggle time with his mom

It was quiet but a lot of fun

“It’s time to go,” his mom did say

On the morning of his final day

They took a long walk in the woods

The one that surround their neighborhood

Then they went to a lunch buffet

A fitting meal for one’s final day.

They went to the pond for a swim.

Then to the groomers for a blowout and trim

Then he added a boat race to his resume

On this his final day

Finally there was one final thing

To go to the park and be pushed on the swing

He sat there for an hour swinging white the children cid play

On this his final day

Soon the sun was setting

And his mom could not stop petting

Then she took him home and put him on the couch to lay

And Toby said to death “not today.”

All dogs live the day like it is their last

Because you never know what the future has forecast

If Toby could speak he would say

“Live life to the fullest and enjoy every second of the day.’”