WHERE HAVE YOU GONE HOLLY?

“When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here,
that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends,
so they can run and play together.

There is plenty of food, water and sunshine,
….and our friends are warm and comfortable.”

These beautifully written words from The Rainbow Bridge poem, attracted my attention as I searched for something to say to the heart broken little girl upon hearing of the abrupt and sad loss of a little creature who answered to the name Holly.

I had met Holly just two weeks earlier when I visited the home. For some strange reason I found her trying to snuggle up to my leg as soon as I sat down. This was quite unusual for me, for although I like pets, I do not usually pay attention to them and their attempts to draw attention. But this one was different. I am not sure whether it was her intelligent face, or her wide, inquisitive eyes or the way she waited eagerly for my response, or perhaps the exquisite drawing of her face done by the little girl that sat in a frame on the table in front of me. Whatever the reason, the little puppy left an impression which even now, several weeks after the unfortunate incident, remains.

Having been a physician for more than fifty years, I have had my fair share of dealing with families of people who have passed on and have spent many hours helping them to cope with the loss. Also during my own life I too, like everyone else, have lost close relatives and friends and have experienced the pain and sadness and regrets that follow the event. You would therefore expect that with that background, I should be able to comfortably deal with any such event. Let me assure this is far from the truth, and like anyone else, the loss of life carries a painful responsibility.

This is no different with the loss of a favored pet. In my own family, I witnessed the pain and sorrow of my youngest daughter when her lovebird, Kiki, died, the genuine emotional outburst in my wife and son after Boojou’s demise and the sadness and regret in the faces of our neighbors after their dog passed on. To each one of them the loss was indeed genuine and true.

Yet in all these cases the skeptic would respond, in good faith, with a word of reassurance that all is not lost for the pet could be replaced. They will never understand the outright rejection of this suggestion and the insistence that the loss was irreplaceable.

And so it should be, for I can think of nothing else that provides complete, total and unreserved loyalty and love, without any preconceived rules or conditions or expectations as a pet. This indeed is the real definition of a Pet. Their love is unconditional and they will unhesitatingly give their life in defense or service of their masters.

My own personal views were tempered many years ago as a young boy after our family watchdog, Bobby, was poisoned by a neighbor whom he constantly prevented from stealing mangoes from our tree. My immediate response was one of anger and of sorrow, but I still remember the advice of Mr. Thomas, an older man and friend of my father, who reminded me that we should be happy for Bobby for having had the opportunity to feel the love and attention of his masters. A very spiritual man, he believed that pets were placed here by God to teach us what unconditional love really means, and what God expects from us. I remembered thinking that if this was true, then Bobby had indeed done a great job.

In his humble simplicity perhaps Mr. Thomas may well have touched on the real purpose of a pet in the lives of people. Perhaps this may indeed be the way that God has chosen to teach us the real meaning of faith and being true Christians. You only have to compare the absolute trust, love and loyalty of the pet against the distrust, aggression and antagonism of its cousin in the wild to be convinced. So in a way we should rejoice when our pet passes on and instead of being sad and depressed we should take time to thank God for sending it to us to teach us the way to be good children of God.

In this context, with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel, as well as “Mrs. Robinson”, I have adapted their famous song to honor Holly and all the other pets who have devoted their lives in the service of their masters:

"And here's to you, Baby Holly.
Jesus loves you more than you will know.
Woah, woah, woah.
God bless you please, Baby Holly.
Heaven holds a place for those who pray.
Hey hey hey, Hey hey hey."