Another at the Rainbow Bridge

Here is a post I wasn't planning on writing for another 30 years or so. I am sure you are all familiar with this poem:

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Well, Prudy passed away today. I am absolutely heart broken as she was and always will be my baby. I got a call from a woman while I was unpacking things at my apartment. She told me that Prudy had been hit by a car and she thought she was dead. Of course I lost it and started wailing while I was on the phone with her, I asked where she was, while I grabbed Sherman, my keys and wallet and was headed out the door. My little sister was headed to my apartment so that I could help her get her books for her college classes and so I called her and told her to head home. The whole drive I was wondering the kind of scene I was going to drive up on. All the worst going through my head. I was wondering if I really wanted to see her in whatever shape she was in. I drove up and saw her lying on her side on the sidewalk, and she looked oddly peaceful. None of what I imagined was there, no blood, no guts, she was just laying there as if she was asleep. I got out of my car and slowly walked up to her, the people that lived in the house that she got hit in front of where there and were telling me what had happened and the driver had left to get her kids from school. (turns out the lady is in our neighborhood and is friends with my mom and has a kid in my moms class) I sat down next to her and started stroking her. A few minutes later my sister drove up and got out of the car and came over. The people there got a blanket to wrap her in and loaded her into my car. I drove to the vet, the whole drive I almost expected her to lean over the seat and rest her head on my shoulder like she always did. The vet was very nice and came out with one of the vet techs to help me get her out. He knows me and Prudy pretty well. He is a good friend of Dads and I worked for him in 8th grade. Also Prudy has allergies so we have been there quite a bit for follow up exams. He asked which dog it was and when I said Prudy he, and a few of the nurses said, "Aww, not Prudy." While they were getting her out of my car the vet tech kept telling me how sorry she was and how she had always thought Prudy was such a sweet happy dog. That made me feel a little better knowing that she had touched more lived than just those in my family. They are going to have her cremated and the people who do the cremation are going to make a mold of her paw, I thought that was really nice.

I am going to miss my girl so much. I am going to miss her happy face and wagging tail when I get home, her constantly staring at me while I eat, the crazy puppy mood she gets into every once in a while, her biting my ankle when she gets excited, the way she would jump with me on the trampoline, the way she would follow me around the house no matter where I went, the clicking of her nails on the floor, the way she felt when I gave her a big bear hug, the weight of her head on my shoulder as I would drive, how excited she would get when you would say "Do you wanna eat," or "Lets go for a ride." and how she knew exactly what those two phrases meant, the way she would hog the entire bed, the way she would move the sheets and blankets so that they were the perfect position for her (and always off of me), how she would calm me down after a stressful day, how her ears where darker than the rest of her, how she is so patient with my puppies and with small children, how she has a way of making everyone love her, how expressive her eye-brows are, how gentle she is when she licks your face, how she snorts and grunts and rolls around on her back when she is happy, how she begs for belly rubs, how she gets so exited when she gets told she is a good girl, and so much more. I know that she is happy and she was not in pain. I can't wait to see her again, but until that day comes a big void has been left in my life. Prudy will always have a piece of my heart and I will never forget her.