I stood by your bed last night,
I came to have a peep
I could see that you were crying,
you found it hard to sleep
I whined to you softly as
you brushed away a tear,
"it's me, I haven't left,
I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here"
I was close to you at breakfast,
I watched you pour the tea
You were thinking of the many times,
your hands reached down to me
I was with you at the shops today,
your arms were getting sore
I longed to take your parcels,
I wish I could do more
I was with you at my grave today,
you tend it with such care
I want to reassure you,
that I'm not lying there
I walked with you towards the house,
as you fumbled for your key
I gently put my paw on you,
I smiled and said "it's me"
You look so very tired,
and sank into a chair
I tried so hard to let you know,
that I was standing there
It's possible for me,
to be so near you everyday
To say to you with certainty,
"I never went away"
You sat there very quietly,
then smiled, I think you knew
In the stillness of that evening,
I was very close to you
The day is over,
I smile and watch you yawning
And say "goodnight, God bless,
I'll see you in the morning"
And when the time is right for you
to cross the brief divide,
I'll rush across to greet you
and we'll stand, side by side
I have so many things to show you,
there is so much for you to see
Be patient, live your journey out,
then come home to be with me.
- Author Unknown
Living Love
If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember...
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter--simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your long-time friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.
And on this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own--on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you---you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night. If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you. But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own---seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg--very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay---you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart---As time passes the ache will come and go as it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when---along with the memory of your pet---and piercing through the heaviness in your heart---there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love---like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this love will remain and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our beloved pets--it is a love that we will always possess.
By Martin Scot Kosins Author of "Maya's First Rose"
The Best Place to Bury a Dog
For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes she leaps through your dreams actual as in life, eyes kindling, laughing, begging, it matters not where that dog sleeps.
On a hill where the wind is not rebuked and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream she knew in puppyhood, or somewhere in the flatness of a pastureland where most exhilarating cattle graze. It is one to a dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained and nothing lost – if memory lives. But there is one best place to bury a dog.
If you bury her in this spot, she will come to you when you call – come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path and to your side again. And though you may call a dozen living dogs to heel, they shall not growl at her nor resent her coming, for she belongs there.
People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by her footfall, who hear no whimper, people who have never really had a dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them.
The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of her master…”
Author Unknown
Things People Can Learn From Dogs
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.
When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.
When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.
Let others know when they've invaded your territory.
Take naps and stretch before rising.
Run, romp and play daily.
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.
Never pretend to be something you're not.
If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.
Thrive on attention, and let people touch you.
Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.
On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.
When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.
No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout...run right back and make friends.
Be loyal.
Delight in the simple joy of a long walk, fresh air, and new adventures.
Remember me fondly whenever you bite into a good Hot Dog, and enjoy the great memories for I am ALWAYS near...
"Until we meet again..."
I will never know what I did to deserve such an awful life full of abuse and neglect. My life had become so sad and lonely it was like living in an endless, dark tunnel. I remember looking up one day and seeing a bright light shining at the end of the tunnel. The light was so bright I thought that God must have sent an angel to finally end my suffering.
God did send an angel, he sent you. The bright light I had seen was your smiling face. You promised me that my days of neglect and abuse were over. My battered body and broken spirit hardly dared to believe it was true.
You opened your heart and your home and gave me more love and comfort and safety than I had ever known before. You gave me the softest bed my tired, aching bones had ever felt and more toys and attention than I had ever dreamed existed.
I no longer cringed when a hand was raised near me, because your hands had only kindness and treats to offer me. I no longer feared the sound of feet approaching, because your feet had never kicked me, they had only taken me on wonderful adventures to exciting new places.
Although "quantity" of time can be measured in days and weeks, there is no way to measure the "quality" of time. So there is no way to really measure just how deeply your love and devotion affected my life. But sometimes, even love & devotion and all the medical attention in the world can't heal a body that has been battered and broken for too long.
So please do not be sad that I am gone. You performed a miracle in what little time we had together. You made my spirits soar and helped my soul find peace and contentment. From the day I met you I never suffered again, not even at the end.
Just knowing that my memory would live in your heart forever gave me the strength to let go and find my way to Rainbow Bridge. So go forward from today with only happy memories of me in your heart and let them give you the strength to keep on lighting up sad, lost lives.
Remember I will live forever in your heart and in the stars up above and my star will shine brighter with every life that's touched by your love.
By Karen kmullin@mulberry.com
Brockville, ONTARIO, CANADA
The Rescue Poem
Once I was a lonely dog,
Just looking for a home.
I had no place to go,
No one to call my own.
I wandered up and down the streets,
in rain in heat and snow.
I ate what ever I could find,
I was always on the go.
My skin would itch, my feet were sore,
My body ached with pain.
And no one stopped to give a pat
Or to gently say my name.
I never saw a loving glance,
I was always on the run.
For people thought that hurting me
was really lots of fun.
And then one day I heard a voice
So gentle, kind and sweet,
And arms so soft reached down to me
And took me off my feet.
"No one again will hurt you"
Was whispered in my ear.
"You'll have a home to call your own
where you will know no fear."
"You will be dry, you will be warm,
you'll have enough to eat
And rest assured that when you sleep,
your dreams will all be sweet."
I was afraid I must admit,
I've lived so long in fear.
I can't remember when I let
A human come so near.
And as she tended to my wounds
And bathed and brushed my fur
She told me 'bout the rescue group
And what it meant to her.
She said, "We are a circle,
A line that never ends.
And in the center there is you
protected by new friends."
"And all around you are
the ones that check the pounds,
And those that share their home
after you've been found."
"And all the other folk
are searching near and far.
To find the perfect home for you,
where you can be a star."
She said, "There is a family,
that's waiting patiently,
and pretty soon we'll find them,
just you wait and see."
"And then they'll join our circle
they'll help to make it grow,
so there'll be room for more like you,
who have no place to go."
I waited very patiently,
The days they came and went.
Today's the day I thought,
my family will be sent.
Then just when I began to think
It wasn't meant to be,
there were people standing there
just gazing down at me.
I knew them in a heart beat,
I could tell they felt it too.
They said, "We have been waiting
for a special dog like you."
Now every night I say a prayer
to all the gods that be.
"Thank you for the life I live
and all you've given me.
But most of all protect the dogs
in the pound and on the street.
And send a Rescue Person
to lift them off their feet."
Arlene Pace
September 18, 1998
Just My Dog
He's just my dog. He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds.
He has told me more than a thousand times over that I am his reason for being -- by the way he rests against my leg, but the way he thumps his tail at the smallest smile, by the way he shows his hurt when I leave.
When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded.
When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another person. With him, I am all powerful.
He has taught me the meaning of devotion is loyalty itself. With him, I know the secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things.
He has promised to wait for me...whenever.. Whenever..in case I need him, and I expect I will, as I always have.
Who is he?? he's just...
My dog :)
Author Unknown
Our Beloved Friend
And now we lay you down to sleep,
You are finally at rest.
Our love for you we'll always keep,
You were the very best.
You gave us joy for all those years,
A memory for each new day.
Then came the day of all my fears,
The day you passed away.
A part of us you took with you,
And I cannot stand the pain.
But when this life on earth is through,
I know we'll meet again...
Author Unknown
The feeling would be mutual on her end also,
BUT,
she's still with us...always...