FOLEY'S TAILS FROM RAINBOW BRIDGE: WELCOMING KARLEY

 

They teach humans to hold on to life long after they should have relinquished it. This belief goes back to the stone age, when every life was genuinely precious. What they have failed to learn through two thousand millennia is that death is a gift. 

 

Passing over is not the end but a glorious beginning of a peaceful life, with no war, sickness, money, or worries. Being mortal is brutal, short, and unforgiving. Passing over, if you lead life properly, is a beautiful reward. 

 

Still, one of the requirements for admittance to the Bridge is to stay on the mortal side as long as you can, like some sick dance marathon where there are no breaks, play the songs faster as time passes dances become more complex. Worst of all; There is no quitting. Someone must tap you on the shoulder and permit you to stop. If you quit, you won’t be allowed into the undying lands and forced to walk the ground between the two sides until your heartbeats are scheduled heartbeats expire. Only then do you get to see your loved ones again and experience immortal life. The Powers That Be make an exception if you can show just cause for arriving early, which is akin to crossing the border and declaring refugee status and equally as successful. 

 

Aging is hard, and if you don’t have someone to do it with, lonely. Many times the best companion to age with is a dog. Even in our latter years, we rarely need the attention senior humans do. And we don’t care about our health, only yours.

 

For Mama Linda, aging has been a rugged cross to bear. The devil who has picked the dances she performs to stay on the mortal side has made them very fast and tiring. It has robbed her of her breath and sentenced her to a life on oxygen. To combat what the devils have stricken her with, the angel sent her the most excellent companions she could have: Dogs, the eldest being Karley.

When Karley came into Mama Linda’s life, she played with her elder sibling and now angel Daisy, who was honored to gracefully age with Linda. Karley, who has been a puppy for so long, spent little time as an adult before being considered a senior. 

 

`Daisy taught Karley that there was no greater responsibility than taking care of their mom. When Daisy departed for the Bridge, Karley assumed the role of a nurse. She even saved her mom’s life, rousing her out of sleep when her oxygen mask slipped off.

 

The gods of aging were no kinder to Karley than they were to her mom. The fates inflicted her with a deliberating kidney disease which caused her intense pain. She never complained and tried to hide her suffering, but a mother knows. She could not watch Karley hurt a day more, and while it was the most difficult decision she ever made, she called the vet and scheduled an appointment to end Karly’s pain.

 

When Karley arrived at the Bridge, all the pain and suffering she had experienced during her mortal life was gone. Her mom took it all on. The unbearable ache was the price humans make to save their sweet babies from anguish. 

 

Luckily for Mama Linda, Daisy leads a pack of experienced angels who know how to ease her suffering. Shortly after her passing Mama Linda was awoken by the sound of Karley’s deep grunt, alerting her mom in her dreams that she was alright. 

 

Life has not been easy for Mama Linda, but the forces of good represented by the pups still with her. and her mighty angels fight daily to bring lightness into her dark days.