The Rainbow Bridge......

The Rainbow Bridge……

For the animal lovers out there. All of our favorites: canine, feline, equine, rodent, reptile, avian, marsupial, insect, and all living creatures, pets or wild.

Do animals go to heaven? Do they have souls? Do they feel, love, care, hurt, are they sad?

Yes, yes, yes, yes! To all that and more.

Do they come back to visit? Do they reincarnate? Yes, and yes.

You may believe anything you want to – with or without “proof”. Do you have faith in the unseen?

For the folks who do not believe in reincarnation, or that animals don’t have souls or feelings, how sad is that?

For those of us who do believe, how wonderful is that!

The Rainbow bridge is a place where all the animal spirits go to wait for their humans to pass, so they may greet them one more time.

It’s a Scottish story written in 1959, the following is from Wikipedia:

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.

For those of us who do believe; our pets don’t go to the rainbow bridge, they actually stay with us. They will still sleep in the same place on our beds, chairs, or the couch. They still ride shotgun in the vehicle, the horses in the same pasture, same stall, they feel when we need them and they will be there with you. Learn to be present: you will feel them.

My first horse Jazz, was a beautiful, tall, Appendix (½ quarter horse ½ thoroughbred), She passed in her 30’s and was buried on our property. She was the best first horse anyone could have asked for, she was a retired jumper and had her own opinion about everyone and everything. If she liked you, you were golden, if she didn’t, may the Lord help you. She was always a lady, kind and loving and took very good care of me as I was learning, I felt she still had more to teach me, but I guess her last lesson was to teach me how to grieve the loss of an equine friend. I’ve lost many dogs & cats, but there’s something about the loss of a horse that just cannot be explained. Maybe the fact that you are on the back of an animal that can kill you in a second and chooses not to. I put a lot of trust and love into her and she returned it. We used to dance at the boarding stable to Josh Turner, Your Man. The rhythm was right, I’d put my arms around her and she’d rest her head in my chest and we’d sway to the music. There was an instant connection with her. The day after I met her, my dad passed, she was the only one who could keep me from drowning in grief, she kept me from the deep depression that could have been my ending. When it was her time to leave the physical body, I did what I could to honor a soul that meant so much to me.

A few years after she passed, things changed, work, life, I had 4 horses at home previously; during the years, Jazz and Flame were buried on the hill, Sami went on to a farm with kids that adored her, and Lakota went to board with my favorite horse person, Sarah, who took such good care of her, like she was her own. My barn stood empty….. One afternoon I went down to look for something, the barn itself felt stagnant, I opened the huge back double doors to the paddock area leading to 3 sectioned pasture areas to air it out and I heard hooves thundering towards me, dirt actually hit my boots, and there was a snort on my face. I felt her energy, it’s an imprint, she was here. I felt the love and the calmness once again from a friend that I loved so very much. It made my heart happy after that, just knowing that she was still a part of my life, and she still is today.

They miss us as much as we miss them but for them it’s a bit different. We have the day to day responsibilities and ever-changing world that can take over our thoughts and feelings. Sometimes our animals, passed and present, can and do get overlooked or forgotten about. It’s okay, they bring us back to the present. It’s okay to miss them, it’s ok to grieve for them. They are NOT just an animal. They are living, breathing, beautiful souls who are here to teach us love and kindness in the most rawest of ways.

So, if you choose to believe they are with you always, you are right and you are blessed.

If you choose to believe they are waiting at the Bridge, you also are right, they will wait there for you, and you, too, are blessed.

For the love of an animal is an unconditional love, it is truly a blessing.

Your beliefs are your own, they are what gets you through the day, just know that no matter which you believe, we will be reunited with our loved ones, 2 legged, 4 legged, & winged, when our time comes.

In love & light,

Lisa

In Memory:

Beau

Apache CD

Prin

Sammy (Bahari’s Yosemite Sam)

Blue (Stahlwart’s Ole Blue Moon) CD

Jet (Brown Hill’s Ghost Dance)

Max

Lexi (RFB, CH Lyloak’s Isn’t She Lovely)

Sapphire

Phantom AKA Pooh

Chelsea

Ghost

Bunny

Jazz

Flame (My Sierra Flame)

Sami

& Lakota

 I’ve been loved and owned by the best. Thank you all for your unconditional love.