the rainbow bridge

 

Throughout our married life, my wife and I have always had pets in the house, much to the relief of my wife, whose mother did not allow any pets in the house.

After getting hit by a deer on our honeymoon on Friday the 13th, our first pet was a black cat (who was technically not allowed in the apartment we rented in West St Paul, Minnesota.) The unit we rented was less than a mile from Highway 13, so it is safe to say that we are not superstitious people.

After we bought our first house, Sharon adopted a Siberian Husky from our neighbor Mary Ann, who had a kennel of them right across the alley from us.

One day, she had the dog tethered to the lounge chair she was sitting on in that back yard, and it was not long before disaster hit.

Our neighbors, Bob and Donna Bradley, were docents for the St. Paul Zoo, and when Donna came out of the house with a tiny Artic fox in her hands, Tanya (the dog) noticed. She quickly escaped from the chaise lounger in order to play with the little fox. Unfortunately, in her enthusiasm, she picked up the fox and carried it into our yard, which snapped the animal’s neck, causing its death.

Although the Bradleys did not talk to us for 40 days, we made amends before we moved to our next house in Brooklyn Park, which had a large cage attached to the side of the garage.

Since the cage did not have a dog house, we drove to Hastings to pick up a dog house that my uncle no longer needed. 

We put Tanya in the kennel and left.

Upon our return, we discovered that Tanya was not in the cage, so we called the police. Initially, they told us that they could not find the dog, but called back an hour later to tell us that the dog HAD been found – but she got into problem when she was out.

At it turns out, one of our neighbors had a pet duck. Being part wolf, the duck looked pretty tempting, so Tanya ate it. After we retrieved the dog from the kennel (where we met the neighbors who owned the duck), we drove home. At that point, I told Sharon that she HAD to sell the dog – and she did.

After we bought our second house, we started adding cats. By the time we moved into our 4th house, the total had climbed to 5.5 cats (I would not allow the stray from our deck into our house.)

Our daughter Kelly always loved animals, and worked for a vet’s clinic while she was still in high school because she wanted to eventually become a vet. While there, she took possession of a tiny kitten brought in that was abandoned and in need of 24/7 care to survive. After a short stint in the veterinarian hospital, she was smitten and adopted him. That early care and dedication to literally save his life created a bond like no other. She named him Lucky.

When she moved to Michigan for her first year of college, she brought Lucky with her. During that first year, though, Lucky developed a tumor in his lung which was undetectable and not curable. Despite efforts by the rural vet, Lucky crossed the rainbow bridge within 7 hours of first symptoms. He was little more than three years old. His death was a difficult emotional experience for Kelly.

With more love to give, Kelly eventually adopted more fur babies. "Chance" was Lucky's partner who stayed with Sharon when Kelly went to China to teach English. Upon return to the states, Chance developed a growth and had to euthanized. Kelly acquired two more cats in the years following, Capone and Foxy. Capone was named based on his "boss" attitude and the neighborhood where Kelly lived in Chicago was Al Capone's old stomping ground. 

When the three of us moved to Flagstaff in 2011, Kelly's two cats naturally would come with her. Not long after we moved in, Kelly and her mom traveled to Second Chance, an animal shelter on the east side of town, just "to look." Instantly, an Anatolian Shepard mix, originally named Tracker, chose her as his new mom. He was 1.5 years old and would soon be renamed Cody.

We then acquired a male cat from one of our senior group friends, and we named him Cookie. Not long after that, we adopted a small female cat , who we named Gracie. Although Cookie eventually succumbed to the hazards of the desert. Gracie is still with us today.

When Kelly moved to town, she brought Capone and Foxy with her, but left Cookie and Gracie with us. She also brought Cody with her into town. Ultimately, the two cats and Cody moved to a house on the east side of Tucson, and in the spring of 2020, they all moved to Colorado.

Over the years, Cody went with them wherever they went. His adventurous spirit matched theirs as one of curiosity and always looking for the next adventure. Through the years, there were very few photos where Cody was not part of the memory. Over time, though, he started to show his age. In the summer of 2022, Cody decided to chase a stray and tore his knee tendon. The comparable of a torn ACL in humans. Surgery was emergent and he bounced back after 1.5 months of down time. You would never have known he had the surgery based on his continued excursions climbing 13ers in Colorado with Kelly and Chris. His last hike in September 2024 he scaled Engineer mountain, a famous 13er in Durango, CO.

In October of 2024, Cody lost his balance on fell from his favorite ottoman, pulling a back muscle. It was thought he developed vertigo and fell. The local veterinarian, who saved Capone from a rattle snake bite (another story all together), recommended a neurology consult in Albuquerque, NM. Chris and Kelly, who would stop at nothing to care for Cody, braved a winter storm through the mountain pass to attend this appointment 4 hours a way. The diagnosis was undetermined as three options were given. Idiopathic vestibular disease, stroke, or brain tumor. One is of unknown origin, one needs time to heal, and the last would require multiple treatments under anesthesia which Kelly and Chris deemed too risky for their 14.5 year old fur baby.

In the coming month, Cody slowed his morning walk and slowly developed breathing issues. Back to the local vet who took x-rays. Cody had lung cancer which metastasized, confirming that he did in fact have a brain tumor and that caused him to have strokes and fall from his favorite ottoman. 

The day before Thanksgiving, Chris and Kelly took him to some of his favorite spots, fed him bacon and chicken (the only thing he would eat at that point, and cuddled as they made the decision to call the local vet. His breathing was too much of a struggle at that point. The vet came to her house to administer the final dose of medicine, and he started his journey on the rainbow bridge.

When he took his final breath, Capone (17 years old at this point, and Cody's best buddy) howled in sorrow, and Foxy (18 years old at that point, who tolerated Cody but secretly loved him) placed her paw on Cody-an action she normally would not do unless there was food.

People who do not have pets do not understand that pets are literally part of the family, and are nearly on the same level as children.

If you are not an avid reader, you may not know what a rainbow bridge is, so here is he definition:

The Rainbow Bridge is the theme of several works written first in 1959, then in the 1980s and 1990s, that speak of an other-worldly place where pets go upon death, eventually to be reunited with their owners. One is a short story whose original creator was long uncertain. The other is a six-stanza poem of rhyming pentameter couplets, created by a couple to help ease the pain of friends who lost pets. Each has gained popularity around the world among animal lovers who have lost a pet or wild animals that are cared for. The belief has many antecedents, including similarities to the Bifröst bridge of Norse mythology. 

Story

The story tells of a lush green meadow just "this side of Heaven" (i.e., before one enters it). Rainbow Bridge is the name of both the meadow and the adjoining pan-prismatic conveyance connecting it to Heaven.

According to the story, when a pet dies, it goes to the meadow, restored to perfect health and free of any injuries. The pet runs and plays all day with the others; there is always fresh food and water, and the sun is always shining. However, it is said that while the pet is at peace and happy, it also misses its owner whom it left behind on Earth.

When its owner dies, they too arrive at the meadow, and that is when the pet stops playing, turns, sniffs at the air and looks into the distance where it sees its beloved owner. Excited, it runs as fast as it can, until owner and pet are once more united. The pet greets its former owner in great joy while the human looks into the soft, trusting eyes of the pet, who might have been gone and absent on Earth but never absent in the heart. Then side by side, they cross the Rainbow Bridge together into Heaven, to play again and be together in love and happiness, never again to be separated. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Bridge_(pets)

Rest in peace, Cody.