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 (which was technically not allowed in the apartment we rented in West St Paul, Minnesota.) The unit we rented was less than a mile for Highway 13, so it is safe to say that we are not superstitious people.

After we bought our first house, Sharon adopted a German Shephard 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 whose mother was killed by a car, and she brought him home. He was so small that she had to feed him from a bottle, and 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 respiration issue, but the vet could not save him. His death was a difficult emotional experience for Kelly.

When the three of us moved to Flagstaff in 2011, our two cats moved with us.

Not long after we moved in, Kelly and her mom traveled to Second Chance, an animal shelter on the east side of town, where she fell in love with Champ  (who she renamed Cody).

When Kelly moved to her own apartment in town, she brough Cody with her, leaving the two cats with us. When she later moved to Tucson, Cody came with her, and lived with her and Chris at their home on the east side of Tucson. In the spring of 2020, they moved to Bayfield, Colorado, just outside of Durango, where they bought their next house.

Over the years, Cody went with them wherever they went. Over time, though, he started to show his age (he was a year old when she adopted him in 2011) and eventually needed an expensive hip replacement.

In the last year, his health went downhill fairly rapidly. At one point, she traveled to Albuquerque to consult with a bet there, but there was not much that he could do for the dog.

Kelly recently discovered that the dog had cancer, so his days were number.

The day before Thanksgiving, the vet came of 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 (the older male cat) howled in sorrow, and Foxy (the female cat) place her paw on Cody, and licked him nose.

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.