Tails From Rainbow Bridge: John Will Hopefullly Be the Last to Die From a Mistake

  

One of the worst, most heartless rules that humans inflict on one another is making humans choose between being homeless or having a dog.  For one man, the choice leads to a tragedy.  Angels have been tasked with changing disasters into something good.

    I learned how destructive this policy was when I encountered a man named John.  He was in Doggyspace Park surrounded by a dozen dogs who came to the Bridge homeless.  I asked the man how he came here, and he told me a tragic story, even by Rainbow Bridge standards.  

    John lived a troubled life, but, in his later years, his pain was curbed by the love he received from his dogs, Theo, Tinkerbell, and kitten Gizmo.  

    During his life, John had been through homelessness, addiction, and mental health issues.  After going through rehab, John decided to start his life anew.

    Gizmo was the first pet to come into John’s life. Previously he relapsed, and a friend gave him the cat to add purpose into his life and him a reason to stay clean.  The little kitty followed him everywhere like she was a confused dog.  A couple of years later, he brought Theo and Tinkerbell into the family.  

    John struggled financially for his entire life.  He could not afford his rent and was evicted.  According to local laws, John could not get help with his housing until he was homeless.  He managed to keep his dogs with him until they found a new home.  

    John was given emergency housing, but they would not let him take his pets.  He was unsure what to do, but friends convinced him he would not be able to keep them with him on the street, and there was hope, if he took the shelter, that he would be reunited with his beloved pets. 

    He was depressed without his pets and considered leaving the shelter but was told that he would never be eligible for emergency housing again if he did. A friend of his, Dee, was working on an appeal that would reunite him with the ones who shared his heart, but John could not handle the loneliness, and he took his own life.

    Dee began to work on changing the law.  She got the town council to amend the regulations to refuse housing that does not allow pets and still get assistance.  It is a minor victory for animal lovers, but much too late for John.

    Furthermore, a bill has been introduced to make it illegal not to allow pets into a rental unit if the parent can show they are a responsible owner.  Many us angels have spent time in the dreams of legislatures to try to make this bill a reality.

    Unfortunately, it is introduced in England.  They lead Americans in compassion by as much as they do tea consumption.  That emotion is seen as a weakness in the 50 states. 

    Because John took his own life, he had to go before a panel of angels to rule if he was allowed into the Immortal World before his time.  I was one of the jurors, and, after hearing John’s case, we unanimously voted to let him into our kingdom.

Those on the mortal side view death as the end of something, but it is also a beginning, and for John a rebirth.   John is happy for the first time in his existance, living in our village with dogs, and staying away from the humans who had caused him so much heartache in his mortal life.   

    John has become the pied piper of Doggyspace.  When he walks through town, he is followed by dozens of angels.  When he stops, he drops to his knees and plays with the pups, emitting a laugh he never found on Earth.