Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Angel Meika Looks for Answerss

Memorial Day is an odd day at Rainbow Bridge.  While the mortals on their side of the River of Life are having barbeques and thinking about those who have passed to the immortal side we have big cookouts, with lots of chocolate cake, big thick steaks, and many other foods we are not allowed to eat on the mortal side and think of those we left behind, what you call the living.

Another difficult day is our “Gotcha” Days when we celebrate the day we came to live with our families.  Birthdays and holidays can be celebrated with other dogs but a “Gotcha” Day is personal between dog and parent and when they are separated there is more pain than joy.

This week Meika had both her “Gotcha” Day and Memorial Day which made it quite an emotional week for our dear friend.  Also, she is one busy angel, her family’s health gives her plenty to pray, and fret over.

Her Uncle Rob had had many health problems, both before Meika’s became immortal, and after.  There has been long hospital stays when Rob has been away from his family, and his best bud Kole, the stray that Meika directed to her family to ease the pain from her passing.

His Dad Jeff contracted Bell’s Palsy more than a year ago.  His health deteriorated quickly.  Meika spent days in the cathedral praying for her dad.  He did get better, but his recovery plateaued.  The right side of his mouth remained paralyzed.

Meika has taken on the burden of her father’s illness.  Every day she flies prays up to the Big Guy on top of his mountain.  She also meets with all the genius doctors who live in the big hospital on the human side.  She has convinced them to work on a cure.  When it is created, she will make sure slips into the dreams of mortal researchers and tells them what to do.  Eventually, she hopes, this cure will reach her dad.

It is hard to get Meika away from her angelly duties but me, and Meika’s long time friends, Scooby, Odie, and Wishbone do take her for picnics at the river, and we run up and down banks snipping at one another.  But Meika is the first to leave, getting back to the work of making her dad healthy again.

We have all stated saying prayers for Meika’s dad’s recovery.  We love playing with Meika, and with her dad sick her playtime is limited.  

If you could join us in prayer, it would be greatly appreciated

Pocket and the Thunderstorm

I am a delicate machine.  I have to have the same food, and the same treats at the usual time, each day.  A couple of hours after supper I have a “small plate” of kibble and turkey.  Most importantly, just before bedtime, I have to go outside and make what we call a double.  (A pee is a number one, or a single, so number two is a double.)

If I don’t have my late night double then, the next morning, I will have a rumbly tummy, not want to eat, and inevitably leave a nasty double behind a chair.

Storms are a problem.  Snow is the worst.  I won’t perform in the snow.  Daddy, who is in charge of my double production, tries to walk me around our tiny, enclosed deck, on snowy days but usually, neither one of us are satisfied with the results, and I am left with a rumbly tummy.

I am not fond of rain.  I am not as bad as River Song who is as insistent about not performing when it is wet as Van Halen is about not performing when they don’t get the right M & M’s.  But River is not delicate.  She can eat anytime, double anytime, and has no performance anxiety.

I have learned to go out in the rain and perform.  I don’t like being dried off afterward, the towel is rough and pulls on my hair, but it is also warm, and the drying is a form of petting, so it is a fine trade off.  

The worst storm is the thunderstorm.  At the first rumble, I seek out Daddy.  If he is sitting, or lying down, I begin at his lap, and with each loud crash, I move up his body, until I am perched on his head, my tiny claws trying to dig into his hard skull for balance.

On Thursday night, right at final double time, a thunderstorm rolled in.  Daddy picked me up and told me I needed to be brave and produce.  We went outside.  It was not raining hard, yet, but there were thunder overhead and lightning all around us.  I hate lightning.  I know it is unlikely since I take up only a speck of space in the universe, that I will be struck, but I worry, because Foley may have gotten a paw on a bolt, and she has often threatened to smote me.

Like all dogs are taken outside during a storm I could not perform my dogly doodie duties.  Every time I positioned myself, there was a rumble of thunder, or a crash of lightning, to interrupt the process, and resume my search for the right spot.

Daddy was getting impatient.  He took up a lot more of the universe than I did as was more at risk.  But he also knew that nothing ruined my double concentration like a raised voice.  His only option was to softly plead with me to complete my double.

Finally, there was a break between thunder and lightening, I wiggled my butt in position and popped out a double.  Daddy picked me up and quickly carried me home telling me I was brave.

We went to bed shortly after that where I assumed my position on Daddy’s head.  

I had been brave for the evening.  Now I could go to sleep comfortable in my role as the family coward.

Wordless Wendnesday

Beat This Caption

OK Ma'am, take a look at the suspects and tell us if you recognize the one who ate your slipper

Monday Question

When a human sees you for this first time what do they say about you?

Our answer:  "They are so tiny. They are so cute.  They are so loud."

Pups of the Week: Rose Lawson, Lady and Chase

Tomorrow is Memorial Day when humans remember those who paid the greatest price for their country, and other loved ones, including us pups.  We don’t have any parades or cookouts (well, we do, but it is our regular Monday cookout) because every day is Memorial Day here.

On Friday I wrote about Paco.  His job is to teach dogs how to travel as ghosts from the Bridge to their parent's house and cause some mischief that will let their parents know that we are still there and that we love them.  Paco has had some students have limited success in the precious endeavor, but this week a new Angel was able to master the technique in days.

Rose Lawson, a pretty black dog whose name closely resembles one of the silver screens’ most romantic characters, developed liver cancer, and sadly, on Thursday, she made her final trip to Rainbow Bridge to join other members of her pack, too many really, for one mom to lose.

That is why Rose was so anxious to let her mom know that all the angels that she has lost are still with her.  Paco tried to cram everything he knew about ghosting into Rose’s head.  He then sent her back to her mom, one night after she crossed into the immortal world.

Rose landed outside.  She saw her parents inside.  How was she going to signal to them that she was still there, watching over them?  And then she saw the outside lights.  In her mortal life, she was always getting her paws caught up in the cords causing the lights to flicker out.  She ran to the cords and spun around until the lights went out.  She was able to keep spinning for two minutes until she ran out of ghost energy.  When her mom went outside to see what had caused the outage all she saw was the plus still on the wall. And that is when she knew Rose was still with her, and always would be.

And the rest of you parents with Angels, when something falls, or there is an unexplained noise we are just saying hi.

After 18 years of being her family’s beloved, faithful companion she went to the Bridge because of dementia and severe back pain.  Crossing the Rainbow Bridge, over the River of Life, climbing the stairs, and becoming immortal took all of that away.  Lady was a puppy again, and it was also a puppy that she wanted, not for herself, but for her family.  She immediately began interviewing her replacement, and a day later Callie Duncan was introduced to her family.  Lady knew Duncan could not replace her, but it would help her family get across the River of Grief and start to heal.

I also have a message from Chase to his mom Ashley.  

Chase’s mom wished when he passed to the Bridge that he be jumping and playing again and he is.  He is also learning how to be a ghost, so if you hear something go bump in the night, you will know that it is Chase stopping by to say he loves you.

And the rest of you parents with Angels, when something falls, or there is an unexplained noise we are just saying hi.

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Paco's Undying Love

It was a beautiful day at Rainbow Bridge.  I decided to get some sun.  I put on my shades and went outside.  I tripped over a sleeping dog on my stoop.

Paco stirred. “Sorry, Foley did I trip you?”

I assured him I was fine.  “Did you have any luck?” I asked.  Paco didn’t have to tell me where he had been.  He had flown into the sunset which sent him back to his poor mother’s side.  Her life has not been the same since Paco passed and he has been desperately trying to let her know he was still there  

“No, my mom still can’t sense me.  I do everything I can think of.  I make the lights flicker.  I make it colder for no reason.  I knock things over.  But Mom doesn’t know it is me.  It is very frustrating.”

I sat next to my friend.  “I know what your mom is going through,” I said.  “She misses you, and she hopes that with time she will miss you less but that hasn’t happened.”

“I just don’t know what to do!” Paco sad sadly

I gave him a kiss on the head.  “Paco, I have never met a dog who has tried harder than you to make his mom feel his undying love.  That is why I have put you in charge of teaching other dogs how to reach their mom.”

“But I feel like such a fraud.  I am teaching other dogs all these tricks to let their mom know they are there but I can’t do it with my mom.”

“That is why you are perfect to teach the class.  Because a big part of reaching your mom is an effort.  And you have given more effort than any other dog I know.”

“Do you think I will ever reach her?” he asked.  “You should see her Foley.  She is so sad all the time.  I came here, my grandmom came here, and she is all alone.  We were her family; now her family is here.”

I patted him.  “Very often, Paco, being a human is hard.  They get sad, and lonely, very easily.  Plus they feel guilt.  Your mom still feels guilty about your final days.”

“But she did more to keep me alive than any mom ever. And she knew when it was time for me to go.  I was suffering so much, and she stopped it.  She gave me the greatest gift ever!”

“I know, but she suffers from that human quality of thinking too much and asking what if?  What if I had spent more time with Paco?.  What if I had given him more time?”

“But she did everything perfectly.”

“I know.  The what ifs are the worst. They torment humans.”  I knew what Paco needed.  Some pack time.  I invited him into my house.  We got in bed and snuggled together.  This always calmed a dog down.

I pawed his head and gave him a lick. “Just keep believing Paco,” I told him.  “That is all you can do.  Just keep believing, keep praying, keep trying, and someday your mom, and so many other, moms, dads, and their families will come out of the darkness and walk in the sun again.  Never, ever give up.”

Sometime during my speech, Paco had fallen asleep.  I gave him a kiss and snuggled down next to him.

I was hoping he was dreaming of a future when his mom was happy.  I fell asleep next to him hoping for a time when every mom would be happy.