Earlier this week my Facebook feed had a lot of posts about Rainbow Bridge day to commemorate pets that are no longer with us. Apparently Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day is August 28th. I didn’t even know what the Rainbow Bridge was until I had my beloved Alley put to sleep 5 years ago on August 13th. When I got his ashes back, there was a card with poem about a Rainbow Bridge included.
The author of the poem is unknown according to Wikipedia, but the story is that a dying pet goes over a rainbow bridge to a sunny meadow where they are free of injury or ill health and there they are at peace and happy. The pet enjoys this meadow but misses their owner on earth – so when the owner passes away, they also cross the rainbow bridge and are greeted by their pet. Then side by side the owner and pet re-cross the bridge into Heaven where they are never separated again.
It’s a lovely story isn’t it? And as pets have gone from companions to being our “fur children” I suppose it’s natural that we find this story so very comforting when we lose a pet. It’s also evolved into a website where people can post memorials to their pets and receive grief counseling. Check out the Rainbow Bridge website here.
Want to read the full poem? Here it is from Guideposts Magazine.
And my throwback for today? A picture of my Alley – he was my first kitten that I picked out on my own. Or rather he picked me. I had him for nearly 16 years before he crossed the Rainbow Bridge. He was a good boy.
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