Animals and the Afterlife (25 page)

Mable

Kendra Thompson, Student New Jersey

I
WAS RAISED WITH THE PHILOSOPHY
that animal lovers had more compassionate souls. Needless to say, I grew up with many animals.

I always had a dog and at least two cats, but I eventually grew very interested in smaller, more uncommon pets. I was amazed to find such personality and life in little animals the size of my palm. Eventually I got frogs, newts, lizards, hamsters, birds, fish … but there was always something missing.

Then one day, I went to the pet shop to look at the small animals. I overheard someone talking about the “snake food” and figured it to be mice or rats and was interested in looking at them (the “snake food” was on the floor hidden by a shelf).

So, a woman pulled out a little six-week-old brown-and-white rat who immediately crawled up my arm and situated herself on my shoulder. I took the baby home and named her Mable.

Mable was my first pet rat. Now, I know some people who have not had their lives touched by a rat would not understand how incredible these animals are, but pet rats are very endearing. They are just like dogs in miniature form. I named her Maple Mable because the brown stripe down her back was such a beautiful color, like maple syrup. Mable was the first to open a new and different door to friendship.

Though she was shy at first, within a week she already knew and responded to her name. She eventually spent most of her time outside of her cage. Mable followed me everywhere, sat in my lap a lot of the time, slept in bed with me, and even got her pictures taken with Santa (Santa fell in love with her and didn’t want to give her back to me!).

The bond that I had with Mable was very extreme, like I’ve never experienced with any other animal. She truly seemed to know what I was saying to her all the time … she seemed to understand me even when I didn’t say words. We had an incredible, mystical friendship … we just understood each other. She was very intuitive and intelligent. Each and every day she amazed me even more.

One funny memory that I’ll never forget was when I had to put her in a cat cage temporarily until I bought her a new rat cage. Mable was a big, chubby girl, so I didn’t think she’d be able to squeeze through the bars. She seemed to like the cage, and it was plenty of space for her, so she lived in it for about three months. One day, I had the cage on the floor while Mable was running loose, and to my surprise, right in front of my eyes, she squeezed very easily right through the bars of the cage to get back in (even though the door was open). My mouth nearly dropped! For three months, she never ever got loose out of that cage, but the whole time, she was capable of doing it if she wanted to. I know that she squeezed through that day just to show me that she could do it if she wanted to.

Once she was sick with a respiratory problem … that same time, I had a bad cold. Another time, I sprained my leg … she must have done the same because she was limping, too. These are just a few of the many incredible stories I could tell about her.

She succumbed to pneumonia only one and a half years after I had gotten her. She had a very uncomfortable death; she spent one week literally gasping for air. She had been on many medications two weeks before her death but to no avail. I knew the time was coming that Mable would be leaving me. My mind understood, but my heart could not accept it. I took her to the vet one final time to see if there were any other treatments for her, but after three hours in an oxygen tank with no difference, there was nothing else to be done.

The vet literally begged me to euthanize her, but I just couldn’t do it. That would’ve been the first time I ever would make that decision and I could not bring myself to do it, though I knew it was the best thing for her. I wanted her to pass on in the house that I know she loved, with the person I know she adored. It was a Saturday when the vet told me to euthanize her. He wasn’t going to be in again until Monday, but after Monday he was going on vacation. He said that if poor Mable was still alive by Monday, to finally bring her back in that last time. I agreed to that.

All day Sunday I kept checking on her. I wished so badly that she would pass on at home. I told her to stop her struggle to live, that if there was anything I could do, I would do it … but there wasn’t. I told her it would crush me to have to put her to sleep, to please just go on. Monday came and she was still alive before I went to work. I held her and cried. I was so upset to see her still alive, knowing I would have to take her to the vet after work. But I also didn’t want her to pass on without me being there; it was very conflicting. When I came home from work, she was still alive. I picked her up, sat on a chair and talked to her as my teardrops fell on her head. She passed on quietly only five minutes later.

I know that happened for a reason. I know she waited until I got home again, but she also made sure I didn’t have to make the decision to euthanize her. Obviously, I grieved for her, feeling that I would never have a pet like her again … rat or any other animal. She was only with me for a year and a half, but she was the best friend I ever had.

I have always believed in animals coming back to visit from the afterlife, but after living with a whole assortment of animals all my life, I had never had any overt signs of them coming back. Considering the nature of the relationship I had with Mable, I was certain that she would come back to me. If any animal would ever come back, I just knew it had to be Mable. From Mable’s death in March until my twenty-first birthday in November, she never came back. Although my mother would mention that she’d seen something white (Mable was white with brown on her head, neck and down her back) scurry across the floor on some occasions, I never saw or felt anything and I’ll admit that I was hurt … and disappointed. I knew way before her death that she was my soul mate; she was the friend that I would be tied to forever … so why hadn’t she come back?

On my twenty-first birthday, I planned to go out drinking with my friends. The plans dissolved because they couldn’t make it, but I was determined to go out drinking that day, so I just went to a local bar by myself. Toward the end of the night, I noticed a young woman with a beautiful brown hair color … the maple brown color of Mable’s. The woman took the next seat down from me where she obviously knew the other two girls that were sitting there. To my astonishment, one of the other girls called her “Mable”! I was utterly shocked. On the way home that night, thoughts of Mable—and my other rat, Kelso, at home—consumed me.

As soon as I walked into the house, I started screaming for Kelso (Kel was my new boy to help me fill Mable’s void). My mother got Kelso for me, and I was crying because, as sweet and good as he was, he wasn’t Mable. Then I starting hysterically crying that Mable never came back to see me: “She must not have forgiven me for not ending her suffering earlier.” After about fifteen minutes of crying, I calmed down.

Then all of a sudden … I saw Mable! I saw her in an open field of grass; I was looking at her side while she was walking. My mother will tell you that my eyes were wide open in bewilderment as I tried to reach out and touch her, but she wasn’t coming close enough for me to. She seemed oblivious to my watching her … but she was okay, peacefully walking in the field.

People could write this off as an intoxicated delusion, but of the many times I’d been out drinking during my twenty-first year, I never had visual delusions; and the woman named Mable who sat next to me in the bar certainly wasn’t a delusion.

The next day, my mother told me that after I had left for the bar, she saw something white flash across the living room floor over to the door. She believed, even before I came home and saw Mable that night, that Mable had run out the door after me, to protect me. And she believed that I had very much seen Mable.

It was enough just to see her again. She was quite a chubby girl (I have since had many, many rats and she had to be one of my chubbiest!), but before she died, she’d lost quite a bit of weight. When I saw her, she was happy Mable again … chubby and running free without pain. That was enough for me to overcome my grief.

I’ve never loved anyone (human or animal) as much as I loved my Mable. I know there was and still is a spiritual bond between us. Since then, I’ve never visually seen her, but I feel her all the time. Mable is watching over me.

Misha

Glenn Wolff, Clinical Social Worker Connecticut

M
Y WIFE
, C
ARYN, AND
I shared a life of sixteen years with our beloved dog, Misha. She was a Westie terrier mix, weighing only eight pounds. Misha was truly our first child and our best friend. She had a remarkable personality, full of love, life, and oomph! Misha passed over one March. Needless to say, her passing left a huge void in our lives.

Soon after Misha’s passing, I went to a healer (a Reiki master) to relieve some of the pain and anguish that I experienced after Misha’s passing. The healer, during our session, said that Misha’s spirit was still with me and she was present in the room. About one month later, I visited the healer again to relieve pain, sorrow, and grief. The healer said that Misha was again in the room. Misha was concerned that I was so distraught and she was “hanging around” to make sure that I was okay.

During the course of our session, I had a clear picture of Misha and myself at a very bright open space. I kept repeating, “Misha, you can go now … Misha, you can go now … “ I then had a clear vision of Misha running into the light. After the session, I wept and wept, but at the same time I felt a great sense of relief and comfort. I knew that Misha was safe and happy, and she only wanted
me
to be safe and happy.

My wife Caryn and I had been trying for several years to conceive a child prior to Misha’s death. Caryn went to a healer (a Reiki master) in May, and she too had a vision of Misha and at the same time a vision of holding a baby in our kitchen.

Caryn became pregnant in November. She had a difficult first trimester, and our doctor was unsure if the pregnancy would last. I was still seeing my healer, and she told me that Misha was our baby’s “guardian angel” and always would be. Benjamin Ezra Wolff was born the following July and is now twenty months old.

We have a portrait of Misha hanging in our home. I look at her portrait all the time. I show our son, Benjamin, her portrait from time to time. When I ask Benjamin, “Where is Misha?” he immediately points to her portrait. He also giggles sometimes when he passes her portrait. I truly believe that there is a link between Misha and Benjamin, between the timing of her passing over and his birth. I have a Buddhist friend who believes that, in fact, Misha is reincarnated in Benjamin. And I truly believe that Misha’s spirit remains in our home and is indeed making sure that we are all well, cared for, and safe.

Kim’s note:
As Glenn discovered, the act of letting go can be very healing. It doesn’t mean we are sending our loved ones away from us permanently, or severing our connection to them. Rather, it means we are taking a step toward freeing ourselves from the grips of grief and despair, and freeing them to move forward. The desperation, holding on, and worry are released, but the love remains. Having said that, I feel it’s important to reiterate here that just because we receive a message or visitation from a departed loved one, it doesn’t mean we are holding them back. It is often just their way of checking in, saying hello, and letting us know they still love and care about us—and they always will.

Patty

Janine Fuquay, Retired Silkscreener Montana

I
TEND TO
“
SEE
”
PEOPLE
I
LOVE
after they pass on, either as visions when I’m awake or in very vivid, realistic dreams of the Other Side when I’m asleep. When my mother passed on a few years ago, I saw her repeatedly afterwards, most frequently when she took me on visits to the Other Side in my dreams. Each time I saw her, she appeared younger, stronger, and more focused. Finally, the last time I saw her, she appeared to be in her twenties and in her prime. She told me she had tasks to do and obligations on the Other Side, so she wouldn’t be visiting me as much anymore. I wished her well on her journey and said I loved her. I felt very good about this, and the wonderful things I saw with her have always stayed in my mind.

The same thing happened to me when my teenage nephew, Lee, passed on about the same time. I saw him on the Other Side as well. In our world, he had cerebral palsy and could barely talk, but he was a master at writing poetry. He had a full scholarship to attend college based on the poetry he had already written. Unfortunately, he died before he could use it. On the Other Side, he was a strong, tanned young man with a beautiful speaking voice and a gentle wit. I didn’t recognize him at first! I was talking to this charming young man when I suddenly recognized him and blurted out, “My God, you’re Lee!” He smiled and said, “Things are a lot different over here.” He also was very dedicated to the project he was working on in the afterlife.

I had to have my beloved little cat Patty put to sleep. I was prepared to sell everything I owned to pay for whatever it took to make her better. She had cardiomyopathy, and fluid surrounded her lungs. Finally, the vet said I was only prolonging her suffering. When I held her and she looked up at me, her eyes told me of the pain and extreme exhaustion she was feeling. She was ready to go. It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, but I told the vet to euthanize her. I cried so much.

After a few days, I started seeing her in dreams and when awake. Just like the others I’ve seen, she was sweet and healthy. She seemed to be three or four years old, just as she was in her prime of life. It felt wonderful to see her again! I miss her terribly, but I feel assured that all of my departed loved ones and I will be together again someday.

Kim’s note:
It’s not uncommon for our departed loved ones to visit us in our dreams. This will be explored further in the next chapter.