Sending Libby to the Rainbow Bridge

Seven years ago this amazing, gorgeous yellow lab entered our lives. Wandering and lost, she was found and listed on Petfinder.com. My father and I went to pick her up and she lived with him for a brief time. Upon realizing that his was not the best home for her, Libby came to live with me and my young chocolate lab, Maggie. Maggie and Libby were great friends. Riding together, swimming together, playing together. They offered each other companionship and a playmate while I was away at work.

My mom and her husband, Jeff agreed to give Libby a forever home. She came to live with them and grew as a dog and companion. Her gentle spirit, dark, loving eyes, and old soul shined through every day. She was silly and serious all at the same time. Always patient except for with puppy antics.

I lost my Maggie when she was young, just four and a half years old to kidney failure. Libby mourned her loss and would jump in the Jeep looking for her when I came to visit my mom and Jeff. All of this time Libby has carried around a pink rabbit that was Maggie's. She took it with her on walks, out to the lawn, and to bed at night. I liked to believe that it was her way of remembering Maggie.

Some people say "It's just a dog." To me, that's like saying "It's just a kid." Dogs enrich our lives and show us the uncompromising and unwanting love that people often fail to show. They show us what it means to be a good "person." Always there, always listening more than they are talking, always willing to play, stretching first thing in the morning, and waiting so patiently for the person they love to come home. Greetings are full of love and life, and for me always include some "gift" that Belle (my 4 year old black lab) meets me at the door with. They aren't proud and they don't take themselves too seriously. They smile. They roll in the grass. They do what feels good in their soul. Without fail, they bring us enduring love.

Losing a dog is one of the most painful things a human can experience. The loss and loneliness that comes with sending them to the rainbow bridge is something I can't describe other than to say it's a sudden emptiness. The days that were once filled with routine and tennis balls and swims in the river are replaced by days spent tidying up the house and finding parts of your lives together; the bowl laying in the entry or the favorite toy out in the lawn.

Today we will say goodbye to our dear friend Libby. Unwavering in her love for her humans and so very brave until the very end. My heart will ache for you, but I have to have faith that Maggie will meet you and bring you with her. I am not a woman of deep faith, but I have to believe that beautiful souls such as those of Maggie and Libby don't just evaporate with the passing of a body. They endure and come back to us in a new body, as a new companion.

And so I will wait for your return, Ms. Libby Lou. You are loved to the moon and beyond. I am so honored to have been a part of your life. You have brought us endless joy, and now at this time you will bring us deep, deep sorrow. We don't cry for you. We cry for us and the hole that we will have to work to patch in our hearts.

You are my favorite yellow lab ever.

Love to you, sweet girl.

Run free and enjoy the sunshine on your face.