They All Find Their Way Home

One of the hardest parts of loving animals is knowing we only get to borrow them for such a small chapter of our own lives. No matter how many years we’re given, it never feels like enough.

Today we said goodbye to Samantha Floppy-Ears Waggedy-Tail (Sam) at 21 years old. Years ago, during a time when her owner needed her most, they found each other at a shelter and began a journey that would change both of their lives.

Her family shared these beautiful words with me. They perfectly capture the different journeys our dogs take as they leave us, and they reminded me that I sincerely hope love like this doesn’t simply end. There are several deeply missed companions of my own that I’d love to see again someday. 🪽

“In Memory of our Samantha Floppy-Ears Waggedy-Tail (Age 21)

It occurs to me that some dogs cross that Rainbow Bridge very slowly… almost tentatively… knowing how much they are still needed even though their mission is now accomplished. Other dogs, freed at last from the pain and loneliness, the hunger, the rejection, the endless days of being chained in the stinging cold and exhausting heat, run across that Bridge with a renewed enthusiasm not known since puppyhood and certainly long since forgotten. Still there are other dogs who, completely content in a job so well done and a mission so successfully completed, and knowing well the strength and richness of the wealth of treasured memories they’ve left behind to sustain those who loved them, simply spread their doggy angel wings, so long hidden, and fly across that Bridge.

Sharing this will support the mission of dogs everywhere to bring comfort to those who loved and continue to love them.”