Reading of the Week: Horseshoe On the Other Side

I have a long story to tell you tonight. I met a great dog today. A dog who is dearly missed. His name is Horseshoe.

I think this story is told best by the emails that Horseshoe's mom, Sarah and I wrote to each other.

Here's the note that started it all: 

"I'm signing up for an email consultation and I wanted you to have a picture of my beloved Horseshoe.  He died on Monday.  I miss him like crazy. I really would love to know if he understands why he died......where he is........what he is doing......

Thank you, Sarah"

Here's what I wrote back:

Sarah-

Wow, what a great dog Horseshoe is! He’s such a nice combination of happy and calm. 

He understands that it was his time. When I initially connected with him, I got a hit of pain in my belly. I asked him about this, and he said that he had cancer. He wasn’t sure if you knew about it. He didn’t have much time left, as it was, and it was getting to be painful for him.  This detail doesn’t seem very important to him now. 

Usually, when I look on the other side, I may see the animal with a friend or two, but I have never seen the great number of friends that Horseshoe has joined. 

When I first asked Horseshoe what he was doing, he showed me a campfire at night, and then him play-bowing and dancing with  a dog. This dog is grey and black, and is perhaps a husky or an Aussie or some sort of mix. His hair is longish. A little smaller than Horseshoe. The dog is in the shadows, mostly, so it’s hard to get a good picture. He is a good friend to Horseshoe. They enjoy each other very much. There is also a young coyote-looking dog (or perhaps coyote) there, and I see someone sitting by the fire. It’s a older man. He’s on the thin side, looks like an old outdoorsman. He’s Horseshoe’s friend, too. The campfire is next to a grassy plain. It reminds me of a Nebraska prairie, an overgrown hay field kind of place. 

I ask Horseshoe what he enjoys up there, and he said that there are some chipmunks that he enjoys chasing around. 

I wanted some context to his story, so I asked him what it was like when he first got there. This is the story that Horseshoe shared with me. 

When he arrived at heaven, he was at the beach, and there was a rivulet running down to the ocean. He took a drink and the water was cold and then he saw a gull overhead.  Horseshoe was next to a cliff. He heard the noise of people talking, and then the grey dog came around the corner and bounded up to him. Then he was joined by this older man, an older woman (both probably in their 70’s-80’s)and a 12-15 year-old girl.  They were happy to see him, and he got the feeling that he should go with them. The man was carrying a fishing rod. 

I am also getting a sensation in my throat. My throat is sore and it’s hard to breathe. I get the feeling that this is related to the girl’s passing, like maybe she had cystic fibrosis, or something. She isn’t in pain now. She really likes Horseshoe. She has skinny, freckled legs. 

He still comes around you. He knows that you’re sad about him passing, and he doesn’t want you to regret or feel guilty about it. He was not afraid to die, and although his life is different now,  Horseshoe is having a really good time. 

He said that he misses you, and he knows that he will be with you again.  So then I asked him if he had plans to come back. He said he wasn’t sure. He hadn’t thought about it. He said he’d like to be a puppy with you. He showed me a picture of himself as a little puppy, in a plaid blanket, and you snuggling him. 

Anyway, I hope this brings you comfort. Let me know if you have any more questions for Horseshoe. 

 Best-

Bridget

And here's Sarah's reply:

Oh Bridget----you have no idea how happy I am..
Thank you, thank you so much.  Horseshoe had tumors on his liver and spleen.  He suffered through three bleeds and then had two great weeks.  When I took him back to the vet, she found that the tumors had tripled in size.  He would have bled to death.  I put him down that night---very peaceful, and very sweet.

Horseshoe had a TON of friends. Sometimes I felt forgotten!  I'm not sure who those folks are that are with him, but I'll tell you, that dog had a life of his own.  We lived for part of his life backed up to a hay farm, and then spent a year living on a working ranch (also with a lot of grass/hay/prairie.  The campfires were a big part of the nighttime ritual throughout his entire life.  People connected with him all the time.  I wonder if those people in heaven just met him and he joined them.  He was very, very social (with dogs and people) and often independent of me.  I didn't mind.  I wanted him to have as many positive relationships and attachments as possible.  I loved him dearly as a puppy---I'm glad he remembers that.  That plaid blanket was real, too.  I always thought he was adorable in red and black.

I had a VERY vivid dream the night he died that we were together on the beach.......the beach with the river.  It was dark and moony and warm.  I woke up and felt happy (and like I hadn't been sleeping).  I couldn't get the dream back again.  I wrote about the dream to my vet when I thanked her.  He loved running, swimming, chasing, everything.

Thank you-

Sarah

I am so very happy that he came to Sarah in her dream, and then chose to tell me about it, to validate for her the time they spent together in her dream. I think it's interesting how he carried his way of being from his most recent life into his afterlife. A highly social dog who loves campfires finds people and dogs and campfires in his afterlife. I love it! 

I hope this brings comfort to those of you who are mourning a pet. Please know that they are safe and happy and waiting. They are not alone and are not in pain. They come to us in dreams and sit with us as we work through our grief. 

Comments

[radiogretchen]

I loved reading this post. Horseshoe sounds like a great dog who loved life and I'm glad he is enjoying life on the other side. It gives me hope that KKat is enjoying herself as well.

[Beverly]

Sarah, I don't feel as weepy after reading the above. You had a beautiful relationship with Horseshoe and Horseshoe had with the world. bev

[Cathy Elaine]

This is incredibly sweet. It can be difficult to come to terms with the fact that all physical forms are temporary, so we will all be saying goodbye at some point. The best we can do, imho, is to enjoy the time we have together and know that we are never separate in spirit.

[Sarah T]

Wow! What a great story and what a true blessing!