She was just a little white ball of fur, with a brown circle around one eye and a bobbed tail. At six weeks of age, she possibly weighed a couple of pounds, or less. She was a purebred Jack Russell terrier, and her papers said that her name was “Jasmine.” I wrapped her up in a baby receiving blanket to bring her home, and promptly dubbed her “Minnie.”
That was nine years ago. She was my very own baby, and constant companion. I slept with her, rocked and cuddled her, and we bonded from the very beginning. She was never happier than when she was close to me. We took her camping (she sat on my lap in the car,) and slept with me in the camper. She was a good traveler, and journeyed with us to North Carolina to visit our youngest daughter, Crystal.
When I sat in the recliner, she cuddled close, and when I was on the computer, she nestled against my back. If I took a nap, she curled up in the bend of my knees and slept as long as I did. She was the only pet that was entirely mine, and she loved me as I did her.
There were times I had to be hospitalized, and she would sit on the back of the couch and watch for me. What a joyous homecoming when I came home! She would jump and jump, her little ears flopping like Snoopy’s, and cover me with kisses. I guess my love for her was her undoing.
From the very beginning I fed her from the table. I didn’t realize it was so harmful to her. She had the choicest pieces of meat and all she wanted of it. A few years passed, and it caught up with her. I had fixed a big meal with pork roast as the entrée, and of course fed her some of it. The next day she began vomiting, and was so sick. Everything she ate (even water) came back up. We took her to the animal hospital, where Dr. Ross Young took a series of tests and discovered she had pancreatitis.
Of course she had to be hospitalized, put on IV’s and treated. She spent a week there, and when we brought her home, she was still in fragile shape. We had to blend her special canned dog food in a blender and force feed her. (I can hear someone saying, “She’s was just a dog.”) Yes she was just a dog, but she was my baby.
We brought her through that, (with another stay at the animal hospital,) and more time passed. Eventually she began drooping around again, and another visit to the vet confirmed she had developed sugar diabetes. Dr. Young had warned us that pancreatitis sometimes caused diabetes. She was put on two shots of insulin a day, and more time passed.
She would have been nine years old next month. We noticed she was going downhill, and then she began vomiting again. She couldn’t keep water down, and begged for it. When she gulped it down, she immediately vomited. Criss took her back to Dr. Young (she looked so skinny and pitiful) and I had a sinking feeling then. I held her on my lap, and she looked at me with her soulful brown eyes. I said, “Mommy loves you Minnie,” and then I repeated it. She looked as if she understood.
I never saw her again. Dr. Young called me with the diagnosis–the pancreatitis had come back, her sugar count was out of sight, and her kidneys were failing. I had no choice but to let her go. Criss brought her back and made her a little cedar casket. Everywhere I look, I see her. There’s her dog dish, the blanket she loved, her bed that Sparky now occupies.
I can’t quit crying. I tell myself that there are people suffering and mourning because they have lost loved ones, and there’s much worse tragedies. If I knew I’d see her again, it would be easier to accept. Some people tell me that dogs have no souls. I’d like to think that she did pass over the rainbow bridge, and is waiting for me. I can see her bounding over a flowery meadow, with her ears flopping, greeting me.
It’s raining again. This has been a hard week, with storms and power outages, and much destruction. We have been blessed because we have been spared the damage that many people have endured; mostly water damage to our garden and minor flooding of our yard. The creek will rise rapidly and cover the road, but it runs down just as quickly.
It seems that a tornado-like storm touched down in Looneyville, where our grandson Josh’s property received extensive damage. Many trees are uprooted, one hit his carport, and there is devastation everywhere. Thank the Lord, the house was empty, as they have moved across the driveway from us. We are unaware of how much damage was done to the surrounding area, as this just happened yesterday evening. We are just thankful that no one was hurt.
There have been reports of trees that have fallen and blocked roadways, and bridges washed out completely. We have been blessed. The flash flood in Kentucky that took our so many homes and lives, with some still missing–we’ve been spared. I wonder if God is trying to warn us with these natural disasters. This world can’t stand long, no matter what the skeptics and cynics say. God can’t bless America in the shape she is in.
We need to heed the words which are written in Jeremiah 3:22, “Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto Thee; for Thou art the Lord our God. Verse 23: Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains; truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel.”
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 or 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 miss someone very special the 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 eyes are bright and 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 and your special friend 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
