Thread: Lost a good friend this morning.

Their Joys Are Simple (a poem)

His joys are simple… A soft cozy bed... A scrap of food fallen to the floor… Standing outdoors with his nose raised up into the breeze... A squirrel in a tree….A loving pat on the head and a belly rubbed.


Once he danced by your side. The very picture of joy unleashed. A perfect poem caught in shining eyes and a wagging tail. He has followed you faithfully for years and would have plunged into fires, untamed wilderness, and deep waters if you had asked him to.


Now, he struggles to catch up, with his white whiskered face and legs as crooked as question marks. His pace is slowed, but his heart is still valiant and willing.
But in his eyes you see a truth. Those eyes telling you that he knows he can no longer keep up and that he senses something is wrong.


Don’t go you say as you scratch the tender part between his ears. Stay a while … I can’t imagine a world without you. There are still so many paths and roads that we haven’t yet explored. But he just gazes up with a wisdom that breaks your heart.


His gait is slowed and his back is bent, not from the weight of years, but from the invisible wings he is growing that will soon take him to a place where once more he will be a warrior of speed…drunk with the sights and scents of a thousand meadows and chases.


A place where he will wait for you to catch up.

Sorry for your loss.

Sorry for your loss

I share your loss.

Sorry for your loss. They are such loved family members. I share your pain. Lost one a few months back myself. May he rest in peace and have fields full of rabbits and trees full of squirrels.

I share your loss my beagle is 13 and will have to get a puppy this spring to keep with her.

Don

We tend to give our pets traits that are more human than not. Some folks think it is crazy to mourn a pet or hope we might see them again. I have faith that we will. I lost the best dog I will ever know almost 6 years ago and there is not a day that goes by that I don't miss him terribly. This poem has been posted several times on another site I go to often. It gives me hope.

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...

This kind of goes with the Rainbow Bridge Poem...

A Man and His Dog Going to Heaven


A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, was a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it, the man saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk. When he was close enough, he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?"

"This is Heaven, sir," the man answered.

"Would you happen to have some water?" the man asked.

"Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up."

"Can my friend come in, too?" the traveler asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog. After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

"Excuse me!" he called to the man. "Do you have any water?"

"Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in."

"How about my friend here?" the traveler gestured to his dog.

"There should be a bowl by the pump."

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

"What do you call this place?" the traveler asked.

"This is Heaven," he answered.

"Well, that's confusing," the traveler said. "The man down the road said that was Heaven, too."

"Oh, you mean the place with the pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell."

"Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?"

"No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind."