An Angels First Day at the Bridge

In 2013 I passed from the mortal world leaving behind a broken-hearted family.  The presumed cause was lung cancer, but that was merely a cover. I had accepted a judgeship at District Four of Rainbow Bridge. At first, I refused the offer.  But then the leader of the Immortal World, the Big Guy, said he would allow me to communicate about life in the Immortal World. No had been offered this before.  I hated leaving my parents and my friends, but I had a greater calling.

In the beginning, every soul was immortal, which is why the Bible had so many characters who were 1,000 years old.  When the world got too crowded the Big Guy, our ruling deity, carved a body of water, called the River of Life through the land creating two sides, one mortal where life begins and species live until their heartbeats expire, and the immortal side, where all creatures inevitably go, an ever-expanding, quiet, simpler land, where they watch over and await, their loved ones.

Everyone has a soul.  It is located in their chest.  It cannot be seen by the human eye, and it does not appear on x-rays.  Souls go in and out with every breath. When the heart stops beating, the last breath is exhaled, and the soul leaves the body.  It is caught by the breezes and floats away until it reaches a body of water.  It enters the current and flows along. Eventually, because all bodies of water are connected, the soul reaches the River of Life, which is currently in northeast New Jersey where very few go and those who do don’t return.  The river gently carries the soul to the shore. Once exposed to the peaceful air of the Immortal Side the soul takes corporeal form again.

The water gently laps the shore.  Off in the distance is the sound of a rowboat slowly rubbing against a dock   It smells like 1,000 gardens. Birds fly overhead singing a welcoming song. There is a path with witchgrass lining both sides.  Off in the distance is stone footbridge crossing the river with the sun setting over it. The new angel has no choice but to move forward toward the Bridge.  Whatever direction they choose to walk brings them closer to it. And if they don’t move the Bridge comes to them.
The Bridge spans the River of Life.  When one passes over it all the pains of living, the effects of aging, the emotional scars accrued during a lifetime, are shed like a teenager removing clothes before a skinny dip.  

We call it land Rainbow Bridge after the sign of love angels emit when thinking of their parents. Sometimes that love is so strong humans can see the rainbow.
When an angel crossed the Bridge, there are a million paths winding through gardens all leading to the Immortal World.  It doesn’t matter which path they choose. It always leads to where they should go.

. Those assigned to my district come to an immense stairway that reaches into the clouds (we used to have an escalator that Enzo created but it rusted in the rain, and we have trouble getting parts.   We also used to have a wall to try and keep all souls on the mortal side, but nature always finds a way.) Angels climb the stairs, and when they reach the top, they find me ready to administer the angel oath and all the angels who loved them on the mortal side waiting for them.

There is a special spot where I perform the angel oath.  We recently named it Hobo’s Landing after the great American dog and author Hobo Hudson.  Then come the clouds filled with the tears shed by the news angel’s loved ones. They rain down upon us.  
Since the advent of social media dogs is loved by more people, they have ever even sniffed. The tears puddle on the ground.  We sniff them searching for the ones shed by our parents. Then the tears are put in our gardens. They are the secret to beautiful buds.
My friend Scooby displays an array of wings he created just for this pup.  After one is chosen, Ladybug gives the angel flying lessons.  Our wings are detachable. Most the time they are a bother. You can’t roll around on the grass, sleep on your back, or sit in a chair wearing wings.  

Angels can choose where they want to live.  I picked a cabin overlooking the river with lots of gardens surrounding it.   A pup can live on a cloud, on the moon, in a high rise, in a mansion, wherever they are comfortable. Thanks to angel temperature control, it can be summer or winter, sun or snow, often on the same day.  

At the end of the day, a huge welcoming feast is held for the angel.  There is all the food the pup was denied in his mortal life: chocolate, thick steaks, strawberry ice cream, pizza, fried chicken, and so much more.  The best part is we can eat what we want, and it doesn’t go to our hips.

All the dogs who met on social media live in two neighboring villages.  The one where I make my home is called Doggyspace. It has lots of green grass, hills, and trees.  In the center of town are shops operated by our friends. Hannah Banana sells treats, Hattie Mae designs outfits, and Otie Campbell runs an ice cream shop.  Benjamin is our sheriff, but his only duties are to make sure we are having fun. It is a big job, so Brody has volunteered to be his deputy. Next to us is Blogville where our blogging friends live.  

An angel must watch over and take care of our parents. We visit them every day.  When we fly into the sun, we emerge in their dreams. They usually don’t remember our visits.  We are regulated to the left side of their brain and memories are stored on the right side. Occasionally we can knock down the door in between, and our encounters are remembered, but this happens once in a thousand dreams.
  
Flying beings can go back and forth across the river.  If anything happens to them, they are given a new body when their soul reaches here.  We can switch bodies with the birds to visit our loved ones. Butterflies and hummingbirds are the best.  Humans always welcome them. Some other choices freak our parents out and are difficult to handle causing us to crash into windows, and our insurance rates go up.  If a human sees a bird watching them intently, they should know it is one of their angels coming to say hello.

We can visit without leaving our homes.  If we concentrate hard enough, we can place ourselves right next to our parents.  Some call this ghosting. Dogs can see us, but we only are seen by our parents out of the corner of their eyes.  If a human thinks they saw something, but don’t quite know what, it is an angel visit.

One of the angel’s goals is to help their parents find a new dog to repair their broken hearts. We interview hundreds of candidates until we find that one special pup. We enter our parents’ dreams and whisper to them that it is time they found a pup.  We tell our parents where to find this new companion. Once they are together, we no longer have to fret over our parents’ broken hearts. We can also enter other dogs’ dreams and take them with us to play at the Bridge.  When you see your dog twitching or running in their sleep, know they are with us.

Someday all our loved ones will join us here, despite our best efforts to keep them healthy.  When everyone they love is at the Bridge, we retire to the land called “Happily Ever After” where we can wait out eternity living worry-free days filled with love.



These are all the secrets I am allowed to tell you, for now.  I hope it helps you understand where your loved ones are now, and eases your transition the day you are called.