Making the Flowers Grow ...

Not gonna lie ...it's been a bummer!   The view from ground level was pretty darned good and I didn't want to leave, but the view from here is pretty awesome, too.  There's something to be said for a dog's life ...  time doesn't exist, we come into this world and have no idea what lies ahead, we don't even think about it and we never regret the past or worry about tomorrow.  We just enjoy every single hour with the people we love unconditionally from day one to infinity and beyond.

It may be hard for people to know what it feels like to live in the moment, but for us it's just the way it is.  When I was barely 8 weeks old I saw Meme for the very first time.  I buried my face in her neck so she'd know that I wanted to be with her forever.  I have been, I still am; it's just different now.

When I started feeling lousy a while back, I had no clue everything was about to change.  I just knew I wasn't up to doing all the things I used to love to do.  It's really better not knowing.  Every morning I woke up ready for a good day.  For a while that worked and then it didn't. I think it's better I didn't know where we were headed.  Since Meme and Poppy didn't know either we had a lot of good times the last few months even though I knew something was off.  We went back to the beach for a week, I got to have my favorite little bits of french fries at McDonald's, I did my darndest to run over the footbridge the way Poppy and I loved to do, we drove down our street real slow with the window down so I could sit in Meme's lap and stick my head out feeling the breeze blow against my face (one of my personal favorites).  And best of all I was with my peeps and we didn't have a care in the world.  Life was definitely good; I have no regrets at all.

But when I stopped eating I got stuck with needles and examined all over.  I didn't like that.  I looked at Meme and tried to make her understand I didn't want anymore of that.  So she brought me home and they just did the absolute best they could for me until it was time for me to move into the next part of my reason for being here.  There's much to be done; I've got my work cut out for me.

Part of me just stopped working; nothing anyone could do about it.  I was on this earth for 11 fantastic years which in people time is really a very long time.  So far no one has figured out how to make dogs live long enough so we don't have to say good bye so soon.  Maybe someday we'll get that figured out, but the fact is I was getting old and sometimes stuff just gets out of whack.

I sure did have a lot of love back there on the ground.  Sometimes, even when I wanted to just have a moment to myself, they'd come scoop me up and snuggle me.  And sometimes I was like "Hey get off me!  I'm an adult here!!!"  And at the end my Poppy held me in his arms and my wonderful "Aunt" was there loving me and I just felt so good ... if I were a cat I'd have been purring!!  All of a sudden some foreigner I'd never seen before swooped in and absolutely destroyed my special moment.  Boy did I give her what for!!!  Right to the end, I was tough and pretty darned brave if I do say so myself.  I never let anyone know I felt sick because I really wanted to stick around as long as I could and I sure didn't want anyone to be sad.

 I do know this ... there is no end.  No matter what anyone may believe, whether it's that we live on in the hearts of the people we love or whether we're actually here in spirit doesn't matter.  This is a world without end and one way or the other we will see everyone we love again.  I'm doing everything I can to prove from this vantage point that I can do things I could never do at ground level.  I know Meme and Poppy are missing me terribly and I wish there was something I could do to let them know that it's okay, we're all going to be okay.

There is an orchid plant on our patio.  Every year Meme would get so excited when it bloomed.  She's not good with orchids and it only bloomed once a year.  I was there when it bloomed this year so gloriously.  When the blooms died away, Meme hung the plant back in the shade of the ficus tree to wait for the blooms another year.  But just days after I left ground level, Meme happened to be trimming the ficus and she saw four new stems filled with buds just getting ready to burst.

There's no such thing as coincidence, but there are miracles if you just believe.  There are lots of stars in the heavens, but I'm thinking none of them will shine as brightly as I do.

".....I am a thousand winds that blow. 

I am the diamond glints on snow. 
I am the sunlight on ripened grain. 
I am the gentle autumn rain. 
When you awaken in the morning's hush 
I am the swift uplifting rush 
Of quiet birds in circled flight. 
I am the soft stars that shine at night...." 

Mary Elizabeth Frye

'Til next time ... wherever, whenever, it may be,
Molly

Molly
 Our Sweetest Girl

January 15, 2001

May 6, 2012

Forever in Our Hearts

Molly at the Rainbow Bridge

On May 6, 2012, we lost our dear sweet Molly to Chronic Kidney Disease.  She was a brave little girl until the last and our hearts are quite literally broken.  Right now, without her down there around our feet, bouncing on with her usual zest, the house feels empty.

But she will write one more Tail from the Rainbow Bridge.  Knowing our Molly, she will say good bye with her usual sense of joy and positive outlook.  I expect she's working on that now, but needs just a little space to get it right.

We have so enjoyed sharing our lives with you through our little girl.  I am going to miss looking at life from her ground level. 

Love,
Heather, Ray & (of course) Molly