Family
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BY COMMENTING
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE As A Member OR Visitor
Message Writer
Hire Writer
Report Article
"Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge where all our pets will meet us, to escort us o'er the ridge.”
“A common belief amongst pet lovers is that their beloved pets which have gone on before them will be waiting at a place called RAINBOW BRIDGE. A comfort at the time of a pet's death...”
I shut my eyes, recalling my menagerie -- Will they be waiting for ME at RAINBOW BRIDGE?
My eyes glaze over. I am translated to a future time. I'm in a valley filled with flowers and shrubs. The dew, like little dancing fairies, glistens on the leaves. Into my mind flash the lines of a poem: "Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge." I am enveloped in a rainbow, standing on a bridge. I gasp.
Overhead is a multitude of birds: crows, jays, starlings, sparrows, robins, orioles, canaries, humming birds. Birds I have fed and attended over the years? I look below, into the tinkling water.... Goldfish? They look familiar. Could they be the ones I used to care for? Then I hear barking, mewing, braying, bleating, cooing, crowing. Behold a troop is hurrying across the bridge! Pets from my past? To greet me?
Skipper puts his gigantic paws on my shoulders and licks my face. Oh what a good dog was Skip, a shepherd, in the true sense of the word: faithful, intelligent, loving, and protective of all his domain. I recall his untimely death when a heartless driver intentionally swerved to hit him. The memories of the all-night vigil I spent with him, weeping, praying, holding him, wishing him to live, but waiting for his inevitable death, bring tears streaming down my face. I return Skip's kiss. He removes his paws from my shoulder and steps aside, making way for …
I am swept off my feet as numerous dogs and cats swarm around me, barking, purring, licking the tears from my face. I blink my eyes. Ah yes, I recognize them: Scruffy, Beaver, Rocky – and a dozen more. I call each by name as they clamber around me, recalling that period of my life that they were a part of. Each seems to have a smile for me … I feel a soft touch on my leg. I look down. My blind cat, Baby? But now she can see me. I pick her up and cuddle her. She had meant so much to me, and oh how I missed her. And here she is to greet me!
The sound of clitter-clatter of feet startle me. I turn my head. I can't believe it! A goat on RAINBOW BRIDGE! "Maggie?" She kicks her feet in the air. But she hadn't come alone. I turn, feeling a woolly head nuzzle my hand. "George!" -- my pet lamb who had met an untimely death. This was too much! Then, coming from all directions, rabbits - too numerous to name, but remembered just the same, swarm around my feet. And a furry nuzzling at my ankles attracts my attention. I reach down, feeling my chinchilla --"Happy"! ...Then the familiar "cock-a-doodle-do", "cut-cut-kadakit" of the dozens of bantam chickens I had given Biblical names to. All pets from my past.
I hear a fluttering over head: Chip, our pigeon, accompanied by a few budgies and a cockatiel land on my shoulder … Glorying in their attention, I glance to my left. Slithering up the side of the bridge is a salamander. Rescued from certain death, Sammy lived a life of ease in an aquarium for several years. I touched his cold, smooth back. He grinned.
Something furry crawling around my feet makes me look down. Guinea pigs? So many of them: such fun it was, creating an outdoor, protected, home for these little creatures. And they're here too? The tears begin again.
I hear a rustling in the bush in the valley below the bridge. Looking up at me with doleful eyes are a couple of deer. Oh yes, I remember! The deer that came into our yard each morning, nibbling at the hay we had left out for them …They seem to smile at me … I sigh …
I begin to stir, to come out of my trance. But wait! There's something wrong. What about my present pets? My loyal dogs and loving cats? Where are they? I open my mouth to call out their names, but I have no voice.
A sharp bark! I sit up. Corky and Peppy are licking my tears. I smile. My arms reach out to pet each one. A pile of cats fall off my chest. Sparky, Scooter, Eezy, and our new young kitties, Cassy and Missy.. They haven't abandoned me! I'm not on RAINBOWBRIDGE. I am at home. I begin to laugh, a funny thought striking me:
"Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge where all our pets will meet us, to escort us o'er the ridge.”
What a troop there'll be to greet ME, one day on RAINBOW BRIDGE ... If there IS some place called RAINBOW BRIDGE.
Helen Dowd
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 1202 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Helen Dowd or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 1202 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.