My friend at the Rainbow Bridge

[HollyS]

Oh my. I''ve lost three kitties in my lifetime; I know how hard it is to say goodbye. He was a beautiful feline, and certainly he had a rich and well-loved life with you. My heart aches with you.

 

[John P]

Date: 2/12/2009 2:10:59 PM
Author: Winks_Elf
I''m catching up on this thread with tears streaming. Our fur babies do so much to enrich our lives, comfort us when we are down, even protect us in the face of grave danger. I''m so sorry your friend has departed.

We lost our golden retriever, Scottie, right before we moved in the end of June. He was an amazing dog, and could always be counted on for a laugh, a hug, or protection. He blew out his ACL chasing a bear away from the house. He was very protective of his clan, and refused to sleep in the house during the warm months. He preferred a nice earthen bed in the front of the house, where he had a great view of the surrounding woods heading down the mountain. One night in the week hours, a bear managed to come up and around from the back. Scottie was woken and immediately went on guard. I woke to the sound of Scottie fiercely barking behind the house like I''ve never heard before, and the sound of a 600 pound grunting bear running past my bedroom windows. Scottie flushed him away from the house, and literally leapt off of a 9 foot tall rock wall to push him back to the woods. Busted up knee and all, he kept running. Now that''s loyalty! he came back a bit bloodied and limping, but proud of himself.

His knee was never right again, despite surgery and therapy. He would have turned 11 years old on July 11th of last summer, but his health took a turn for the bad, and like many cowboys of folklore he chose to go off into the woods to meet his end during the only few minutes I left him alone that day. It felt like a dearest family member had died.

"...like many cowboys of folklore..." got me. We had a golden named Lance when I was young. They are unbelievably loyal and can be gentle as kittens - or fiercely on-guard. My memories of his who he was sound like what you describe, minus bears in our case. I remember one time Lance went into the lake and brought back an old rotten balloon full of water. He was so gentle that his teeth didn''t puncture it... Scottie sounds very noble - thanks for sharing him.

 

[John P]

Thanks so much purrfectpear, iluvcarats, newenglandlady, debshine, swimmer, harriet, snlee and HollyS. So nice to read your thoughts and stories.

Date: 2/12/2009 1:15:31 PM
Author: purrfectpear
Jordan sounds like a very majestic cat. He certainly looked handsome in his pictures

Thanks for sharing him John.

By the way Purrfect, for the past few days (and likely every time I see you post in the future) your PS name puts Mister Jordan in mind. He had serious purr-game. Probably pushed a 4-5 on the Richter scale. Seismologists all over the world may be missing him.

 

[John P]

Date: 2/12/2009 3:02:16 PM
Author: DebShine
And Wink''s Elf - love your story about Scottie... they really are like that.

I was very sick for awhile, and our Labrador Retriever, Boomer, who was HUGE and clutzy and had WAY to much puppy in him for WAY too long, became the gentlest of souls around me. It was the most protective feeling to have him there while I was sick. Even when he jumped/crawled into bed with me, I could barely feel the bed move.

OK - sorry to threadjack, but now I''m just reminiscing on my friends...

Back to Jordan, sorry John!

Are you kidding Deb? You can''t buy this kind of therapy. Thank you for sharing your stories!