Rainbow Bridge

I don't know who wrote it, but here's the description of the Rainbow Bridge, courtesy of RainbowsBridge.com, a great place to visit if you've lost someone you love like I have.

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.

These are my loved ones who I'll see when I cross the Rainbow Bridge one day.

Callie

This is Callie, my sister. We were two of seven and were very happy to be brought home together.

As you can see, she was a very pretty Calico.

We loved to chase each other all over the place, wrestle, play, and snuggle. We were very close and I don't think we'd ever been apart.

Then she got sick.

It all happened so fast. One day she's fine, and the next she's moping around hardly moving and her breath smells funny, like something Dad calls "acetone", and she just wouldn't play anymore. Mom and Dad took Callie to see the vet one day, and Callie never came back home.

That's when I first heard about the Rainbow Bridge, and I really didn't want to know about it at all, but there you have it.

Callie was a great sister, and I miss her a lot.

Blair

A little while after Callie left us, Mom and Dad thought it would be good for me to have a friend of my own kind around. They were right, but I really didn't much care for Blair... at first.

Mom and Dad found Blair at a shelter where people take in pets that don't have a home and find them new homes. I can't imagine what that must be like.

Anyway, when Blair first came home, she was very shy and didn't seem to want to be around anyone. Mom kept her in her office for a few days while she got used to being in her new home and I got used to smelling her in my home.

Blair had some broken teeth and various other health issues that Mom and Dad dealt with, but the most serious was when they found out she had something called FIP, or Feline Infectious Peritonitis. It's a very nasty disease, but Blair took some medicine that helped her for a while.

In fact the medicine, interferon, made her feel so good for over a year that she even started to play with me which had been the whole point of finding me a new companion. We became good friends and played and snuggled.

But around Christmas one year, Blair started to feel bad again, and there was nothing anyone could do for her.

All too soon, Blair had to cross the Rainbow Bridge, too, and just when things were getting fun.

I miss Blair.