Pup of the Week: Rain, Clyde, Quincy and Matilda

When it rains, it pours.  When it rained at the Bridge on Friday, it poured for a long time.  The rain was caused by the arrival of my friend Rain.  The rain that fell was created by tears that were shed by those who loved Rain.  Then came the deluge.  The deluge caused by those who followed Rain.

      

I blame myself for the deluge.  Friday morning I received word that Rain would be arriving in the afternoon.  Rain is my wonderful friend from Mexico.  Here at the Bridge, we try to ignore the pointless chatter that crosses the River from the mortal side.  Chatter caused by humans ruled by hate and fear; not love and compassion.  Chatter that led me to conclude that the last thing Rain should see before being welcomed to the Bridge was a big wall blocking her way.
            Every morning we build the wall to keep our friends from crossing over, and when we go to sleep at night, the Big Guy knocks the wall down.  We start again in the morning.  But, on the morning of Rain’s arrival, I ordered work on the wall to cease.
            Rain’s Mom was at the vet’s with her.  Rain had developed a tumor and could not breathe.  The same thing happened to me on the mortal side.  Believe me:  Breathing is something you take for granted until you can’t do it anymore.  I paced back and forth in front of Enzo’s Escalator waiting for my friend to rise to the Angels.
            She rose, and her Angel friends gathered around her.  We comforted her, reunited her with old friends, and fitted her with her wings.  Then the rain came.  Big clouds filled with human tears after Rain’s passing.  We gathered up our loved one's tears to help our gardens grow.
            Then I heard soft paws on the grass.  I turned to see my little, white furred friend Clyde.  He was not on my schedule.  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

            Clyde said he had a tumor on his spleen. The tumor burst, and he began to bleed into his stomach.  There was nothing anyone could do.  His parents made the only decision they could.  For the second time, we reunited an angel with old friends, had wings attached, and comforted Clyde.  Then more clouds came:  This time filled with tears for Clyde.
       The rain ended, and the magnificent terriers appeared. They were led by Brooklyn, Mckinsie, and Promise.  Their gathering could only have one meaning:  A member of the Magnificent Seven, the world’s greatest collection of Boston Terriers, would be arriving on this tragic day too.  I turned to see little black and white Quincy leaping off the escalator landing and running to his sister Brooklyn.  They jumped in the air, hugged, and danced overjoyed at the prospect of their reconciliation.

    Then they stopped and waited for the cloud of their Mom’s tears to wash over them.  It was a very dark cloud bursting with tears.  Their Mom, Miss Judy, had lost many dogs in the past few years, and now she had lost the friend she called her “bright light.”  Her little comedian who made her laugh every day. I wondered how a Mom could survive having her heart continually broken but then I realized that she is always surrounded by Terrier love.  She also has many angels who love her and watch over her every day.  Then again, looking at the puddles of tears on the ground, I knew how much her heart hurt.
            That is when I realized the wall was still down.  Clyde, Quincy, and Rain could be the beginning of a deluge of angels.  I frantically asked the angels to begin reconstructing the wall.  A giant shadow covered me.  I thought it was another cloud.  I turned and saw Moses, a huge Newfoundland looking down at me and shaking his head.
            Moses was the first angel I ever met.  When I joined the online world in 2007 Moses was living his last days on the mortal side.  He had cancer.  I can still remember reading his blogs.  Everything I learned about love and compassion I learned from Moses.  When I came to the Bridge, he continued to be my teacher.  There were four words I learned in 2007 and they are as true nine years later as they were then:  Moses is Love.
            Moses’ Mom’s heart was broken when he passed.  But it was healed, as all hearts are, by a new baby.  Her name was Matilda and I watched her grow up from a pup.  “By now she must be,” I thought to myself, then looked at Moses.  “No!” I said.

             Moses nodded to the escalator.   Matilida had arrived at the Bridge.  I began to get angry.  Moses was very young when he passed, and Matilda had not even had a decade of life.  I should confront the Big Guy. Then I felt Moses’ giant paw on my shoulder. “No Foley,” he said.  “This is the way it has to be.”  He could see the guilt on my face too.  “The wall wouldn’t have made a difference.  It was Matilda’s time, it was Rain’s time, it was Quincy’s time, it was Clyde’s time, it was your time, and it was my time.  We only get so much time, and then we come here where we have nothing but times.”
            He stood over me as more clouds came and then tears for Matilda poured down upon us.
            The clouds kept coming with tears for Quincy, Rain, Clyde, Matilda and every angel gathered at the Bride.  One new angel makes every Mom of an angel remember the passing of their baby.  Four brings lots of bad memories.
            The next morning I stood amongst the rubble from the collapsed wall.  I picked up a stone and put it in place.  Then another.  Then another.
            It may have been an act of futility but if it could prevent a quadruple arrival day it would be worth it.