# Comforting words to help with rainbow bridge



## Harveybash (Apr 29, 2013)

I was just sent this and I think it's amazing. It made me cry, so I wanted to share, hope it helps you too xx



I know what you're thinking. You think I'm dead. Because you cannot see me with your human eye, cannot feel me with your hands or hold me in your arms you think I am gone forever.
You recall how I looked when I left this place and you cannot remotely imagine that I could possibly be alive in another place.

You are racked and torn by the pain of our separation and it blinds you to that which is right in front of you ... me. How many times since I left your immediate sight have you been told that I'm dead and you should "get over it?" How many times have you cried yourself to sleep because you feel like an outcast, believing you're supposed to get over me because that's what people say is normal but somehow you can't and no one seems to understand?

How many times have you put yourself through such excruciating pain because you aren't willing to consider that I am not, by any means, dead? I want you to do me a favor and go back in time with me. Remember the glorious day you brought me home - was I not the most intriguing creature you'd ever met? Did I not make you laugh and giggle? Did I not look at you with such adoration that you wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of your life with me? I wanted this too.

Remember the days when I was in my prime and we did many things together. You were so proud of me! I was a good friend and I took care of you when you cried, were angry or felt down and unhappy. When you didn't have a lot of time for me because of your obligations, I waited patiently for you. I was always there when you needed me. Did I not look at you with such acceptance and patience that at times you felt perhaps a bit unworthy? You were never unworthy in my eyes 

Remember when age crept up on me, my bones became stiff and my movements slower. Still I met you at the door when you came home and followed you around the house. We'd been together for so long, I was your very best friend regardless of what you were doing, saying, thinking. Did I not look at you with such kindness and understanding that you felt overwhelmed? I couldn't get enough of you.

Remember the last time we saw each other with earthly eyes. You tried to be brave but I knew you were crying ... I know you so well. Better than anyone else in the whole world. Did I not look at you with such pure trust and love that you yearned only to hold me close and keep me with you always? Did you not promise that you would love me forever? I believed you.

If this is so then why have you let me go by thinking I no longer exist? Remember the depth in my eyes all those times I looked at you with adoration, acceptance, patience, trust and love. Who created this depth and love? Would the Creator diminish the song of our laughter which was created in the name of love? I am no longer an earthly figure, this is true. My body was only part of who I really am. My body would have been but a mere shell on earth if it were not filled to overflowing with my soul, my spirit, my loving light. When we met, you thought I was cute, sweet, pretty and adorable. But what kind of relationship would we have had if this is all that I'd been? How could you have loved me if I'd had no spiritual substance? 

They demand you get over me, insisting that I'm dead and you'll never see me again because animals don't go to Heaven. Oh really? I'm here to tell you different. You were worthy of my love and undying devotion on earth as I was of yours. Do you really believe this love would be snatched from us *forever* by a loving Creator simply because I wasn't human? Was I not a living, breathing creation with personality? How could I have been so if I didn't possess the energy of soul, spirit and loving light? And if this energy is and always will be, then how can it be that I am dead? If my core is not of the energy that is all of life then I was never alive to begin with. But you know better.

You cry because you miss me, this I understand. I miss you too - I miss the belly rubs, hugs and kisses that we shared. But life does go on beyond these wonderful, fulfilling physical connections. I came to this place to live a whole new life, not because I didn't love you anymore or because I wanted something better. I came here because it was time for me to go to the next phase of my existence, something all living creatures must do eventually. It is the normal progression of life. I was not taken away from you because you cannot take away that which was never owned. My presence in your life was and is a gift to be cherished and honored just as I cherish and honor you.

Life is not simply about being born into a body, living a certain number of years and then dying. Energy cannot die. We are blessed with time in a body so that we can learn, share and grow. It prepares us for the next phase of our eternal life. The body holds within it the true life force of our existence ... our soul, spirit and loving light. Without these our bodies would be empty, blank, void of feeling and expression. Without our energy we would indeed be dead and could never have experienced our love for each other.

You say that all you have left are memories. Not so. You see, when I took leave of my earthly body I left a little something behind for you. You can't touch it, hold it or examine it for what I left behind is far too uninhibited for confinement. I left behind a piece of my soul. I placed it right next to your own which is quite fitting as we were always side by side in our earthly life together. I love you too much to have left you with nothing but memories which tend to fade and grow cloudy as the years go by. I love you too much to have vanished without a trace. How selfish it would be of me to remove love and light from your life.

I understand your tears, each one you shed is testament to your love for me and I am honored and humbled. But don't forget the good things we shared - remember and smile. This is an honor for me as well. And when you need me I will be here. Close your eyes, relax, take slow, deep breaths and picture me in your mind. Shut off the world and your notions of what death is and give me a chance. Look for the subtle signs I send you. Don't stop being proud of me, I am a friend to be proud of, I am still your friend and soul mate. Don't memorialize the death of my body but instead honor and celebrate my never-ending life for it is eternal and forever as is my love for you. Until we meet again...

Copyright Terri Onato


----------



## LPC (Jul 22, 2012)

I'm very glad that you have posted this poem. It is very well written. I would dearly have liked to have used it on my website (with credit to the author), too, but it seems the author has forbidden anyone to quote it anywhere on the net.

The original comes from here: A Place For Us

Terri Onorato seems to have absolutely forbidden even partial quotes, unfortunately: Special Notice

It's such a pity that it isn't better known. Forbidding quotation just means that his poem will not get the airing it deserves. The ultimate aim should be to comfort pet caretakers missing their beloved ones.


----------



## Harveybash (Apr 29, 2013)

LPC said:


> I'm very glad that you have posted this poem. It is very well written. I would dearly have liked to have used it on my website (with credit to the author), too, but it seems the author has forbidden anyone to quote it anywhere on the net.
> 
> The original comes from here: A Place For Us
> 
> ...


Oh what a shame. Like I said It was posted on Harvey's memorial wall for me. 
Should I delete it off here then, do you think? Don't wanna get in trouble hmy:


----------



## LPC (Jul 22, 2012)

To be honest, I'm not sure that the author can actually refuse to allow quotations, provided he is named and credited. Copyright law is complicated. Obviously, one can't copy chunks of books, but short extracts are normally permitted. It's not a clear issue.

I agree with you, this is such a great piece of writing, which deserves to be seen by others. Thanks once again for posting it.

PS I think it has been put on quite a few places on the net!


----------



## Supasilvfoxy (Apr 6, 2013)

Thank you Harveybash for sharing this with us. Funny how we don't get to see some of the good stuff on the net because of copywrite laws, but the effluence is readily available. It's a sad, sad world indeed.


----------



## lostbear (May 29, 2013)

This is lovely. Thank you. I will share it with like-minded friends. TBH I think the author is short-sighted not allowing it to be shared online (as long as it is credited) because after reading it, I am tempted to buy his book. I say tempted, because if he's going to be iffy about sharing, I don't want to (so there!) (stamps foot, crosses arms and sticks out tongue).:001_tt2:

O course, it may be his publishers who make these conditions.


----------



## Harveybash (Apr 29, 2013)

lostbear said:


> This is lovely. Thank you. I will share it with like-minded friends. TBH I think the author is short-sighted not allowing it to be shared online (as long as it is credited) because after reading it, I am tempted to buy his book. I say tempted, because if he's going to be iffy about sharing, I don't want to (so there!) (stamps foot, crosses arms and sticks out tongue).:001_tt2:
> 
> O course, it may be his publishers who make these conditions.


That made me laugh!!


----------



## jonb (Nov 15, 2012)

touching words....


----------



## LPC (Jul 22, 2012)

I have refreshed this thread as I have recently checked out US copyright law concerning this piece of writing. It seems that the author's exclusive rights ("As of now, absolutely no part of these poems may be used, reprinted or reproduced in any form") are in fact not absolute and "fair use" is allowed under Section 107. Anyone interested can read the exact definition of fair use here: 17 U.S.C. § 107 : US Code - Section 107: Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

I would dearly love to quote this piece of writing (with credit and a link to the author's site) on my website, on the page about "Rainbow Bridge"!


----------



## Harveybash (Apr 29, 2013)

So it's ok that i shared it then?


----------



## Charity (Apr 17, 2013)

I love this too, I often read it and it always brings tears to my eyes.


----------



## LPC (Jul 22, 2012)

Hello, Harveybash. I'm not a lawyer, but I would think so. I tried to track down the author, but there is no "contact" page, no e-mail, etc. Further, a Google search for her name only produced links which no longer work (apart from links to her writings, which do not have a contact page either!). So I will probably go ahead and quote her piece of writing above, quoting her name and giving a link to her site. It has been quoted elsewhere on the net, already. It is indeed a good piece of writing.

Hope you are well!


----------

