Sailor here.
Mom's friend is very sad today. Her dog went to the Rainbow Bridge while she was at work and she never got to say goodbye. What is goodbye?
Mom wrote a poem so I could remember.
You died today. And I was gone,
Away at work, away at play,
Inside the house, upstairs somewhere.
You died alone. I was not there.
I never said goodbye.
You lay down in your corner.
And sleeping in the shade,
You felt our love,
Though we weren't here.
You didn’t want our grief
To spoil Your Time to leave.
You slipped away into the light,
Comforted by bonds of love
That remain unbroken still,
Heart to heart between us.
You carried this love with you,
As you chose to go alone.
I never said goodbye.
But, what is one goodbye
When set against the thousands
Of hello’s that we have shared?
What is one goodbye?
It is for people, this goodbye, not for dogs.
Dogs don’t understand goodbye.
They know a pat, a kiss, a hug
As their loved one walks away.
Dogs don’t understand goodbye.
What they know is your return.
They know you will come back.
And so they wait with patience,
Napping in the sun
Until you walk back through the gate.
They know you will return.
Yes, dogs know hello.
They know the leaping bliss,
The joyous bark,
The happy kiss,
The ecstasy of greeting.
Oh yes, dogs know hello.
And what is one goodbye
When set against the thousands
Of hello’s that we have shared?
No, I never said goodbye.
You taught me well.
I had no need.
And when my time has come at last
To follow you into the light,
To meet you waiting at the Bridge,
My love, my heart, my perfect dog,
You will be the first that I shall seek.
Yours will be the first hello.
