By: Benny Archuleta
As with most days at Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned bright and
clear, without a cloud in the sky to mar the perfection of the day.
But, the sun seemed just a little bit brighter. The sky just a touch
bluer. The grass even looked just a little bit greener. All of the
animals at The Bridge knew what a day like this meant. REUNION!
Who would be the lucky animal who's person would arrive to escort him
or her across The Bridge?
One of the newer arrivals came bounding across the fields, jumping
and playing the whole way until he reached the side of one of the
animals who had been there a while.
"Have you ever seen such a glorious day?", he asked. "Come on! Let's
romp and play! We can't let a day like this go to waste just waiting!"
But the other animal knew that today was going to be special. "Be
patient," he told his little friend. "Today will be even more
glorious than you can imagine. Today, there is going to be a reunion.
Some lucky animal's wait for their person is over. Today, someone is
going to cross over that Bridge."
Before long, all of the animals waiting at the Bridge were lined up
along the path that led to it. Soon, the pathway itself began to glow
and someone could be seen approaching in the distance. The new
arrival and his friend looked up the path to see who the lucky animal
was.
"Oh my!" exclaimed the older animal. "Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!". His body
began to quiver and his eyes lit with a fire that the newer arrival
didn't know how to interpret. His ears perked up and he got to his
feet and, as he started running down the path, he yelled back to his
new friend, "Wait here! This is MY person coming! Wait here for us!
I'll be right back! Wait here!"
When he finally reached his person, his eyes and his heart finally
were able to speak in plain language of the love he had nurtured for
his person all during his long wait. His person reached down and
scratched his head, and gazed lovingly into the eyes that had been so
long gone, but never forgotten. And he spoke to his beloved pet of
how much he had been missed and how his love had never faded for him
either.
When they returned to where the newer pup was waiting, the older
animal gazed up at his person and said "This is the animal that you
and your friends asked me to watch over. I've done my best for him
and he's learned well." Then he turned to his little friend and told
him, "You've been a good friend. When you arrived, lonely and scared,
you couldn't have known that this person and his friends had been
asking for me to look for you and take care of you and show you
around. Now, I ask you to listen carefully for your persons voice and
do for those new arrivals as I was asked to do for you."
"You're leaving?" asked the new pup. "I must", came the reply. "But,
when your time comes to finally cross over the Bridge, I will see you
again. I'll miss you greatly, but my time has come and my place is
with him.", he said, looking up at his person once again.
With that, they turned and started to cross the Bridge. The new pup
was happy for his friend, although he would miss him too. As he
watched, he heard a familiar voice calling his name and saw a new
arrival walking up the pathway. He knew what he had to do.
"Hi! You're new here, aren't you?"...
