Good day my dear friends! I’m lying here stretched out on the soft green meadow grass with my head between my paws, feeling a light calming breeze against my fur, breathing in the fresh clean air. Ahh, I give out a long dog sigh, one that completely relaxes my whole body from the tip of my nose to the tip of my tail. This is such a beautiful place, free from pain, free from anger, free from fears, a heavenly place filled with love, kindness, peace, joy and lots of heavenly pals.
      Speaking of heavenly pals, I see a few heading up this way. It is so wonderful that many of my brothers and sisters from my hometown on earth gather here on this side of the meadow. We all watch out for each other, play together, bark together, comfort each other during those times when we miss our earthly homes and masters, yes we all have been blessed, being part of this heavenly family.
      We have been summoned by Sady, guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. One of our sisters from our earthly hometown will be arriving soon. We are excited to greet and welcome her, but we know what a difficult time it is for those who enter. Each of us recall that moment when we arrive here, as we stop and gaze back, yearning to return to our masters side, a place where we knew love and security, before we take that walk across the Bridge that forever takes us from the life we’ve known to our new heavenly home.
      We know how our masters are grieving and it hurts our hearts to know that those smiles we saw come over their faces when we greeted them or laid at their feet to comfort them, have turned to tears and loneliness. If our masters would only be able to see what a beautiful place we have arrived in, and how many new friends and past dog and cat pals we had known and meet up with again, their hearts would soon heal back to those smiles. We never forget the love and care they gave to us during our earthly stay, but this heavenly home is indescribable in words. God’s hand has touched this place and He gives us a such beautiful world to live in.
      As we head down to the Rainbow Bridge we notice a great crowd of cats and dogs gathering. All waiting in great anticipation to meet and welcome our new sister. Sady the guardian dog sits patiently as he waits. We see a black labrador arrive at the other end of the Bridge and Sady wags his tail to greet her. Her name is Shadow. Shadow looks around, his head lowered and his tail tucked between his back legs. Sady barks, “take your time, there is no rush, we know how hard it is to arrive in this new home and have to say goodbye”.
      Shadow barks, “I so want to snuggle with my masters and tell them how much they mean to me.” Shadow continues, “please don’t be sad, I am ok. It’s remarkable but I have no more pain, my body feels young again. I see this Bridge in front of me and there are so many dogs and cats waiting to greet me on the other side. I just want you to know that I will always love and miss you. You brought me into your home and gave me a life of love and happiness. Even when I was sick you did all you could for me. You always allowed me to be a part of your family, even when the family sang carols at Christmas, I stood brave through all those strange sounds and stayed near you. You always made me feel safe and secure. I will think of you and hold you in my heart, forever and ever. I was one lucky dog, so blessed to have lived my earthly life with you.”
      Shadow turned and nodded to Sady and together they began their walk across the Bridge. Shadow stopped, taking one last look back and then turned and began walking toward us. Of course when you get a bunch of dogs and cats together and one barks ‘welcome home’, we all have to join in. What a chorus! Even Shadow began barking along with us.
      I howled ‘C’mon everyone let’s show Shadow his new home’. We all ran up to the top of the hill and stopped so Shadow could see the awesome glory of this place. Shadow’s eyes took it all in, seeing large oak trees towering overhead, creating blankets of shade, and as far as he could see the meadow’s flowing grass never stopped. Suddenly, we saw Shadow’s gaze freeze as he spotted the creek below. We knew labs and water just go together, and we yelped...let’s go...running down the hill we all jumped into the creek, splashing and jumping with such excitement.
      Shadow put his head up and barked ‘I think I am going to love this place’..... as he turned I noticed his doggy grin and sure enough....his tail was awaggin’. Welcome home Shadow!
      In Memory of Shadow • 2/21/2000 - 3/20/2014