Thursday morning my son and I learned that one of our cats, Pood, had died during the night at the vet's office. He'd been seriously ill when we brought him in Monday morning, and had been fighting to come out of the woods ever since. We had visited him every morning and evening before closing for three days, and each visit brought purrs from him though he was too weak to raise his head. The staff told us he never purred in the clinic until he heard my voice twice each day.

News of his death brought a fresh flood of sorrow to this already death-flooded heart. He was the fourth furry feline friend to leave this Earth in 10 months. Burying him that night was something I did with great sorrow and many tears, as my son and I prayed and went inside.

Friday we both tried to keep our minds off our beloved Pood, but he was still in the forefront of my thoughts. That night, with a still-heavy heart, in the shower, I had an odd experience. I was awake, but had this weird trancelike 'dream' that's only happened a few times in my life. It just suddenly appeared in my head, like a television turned on suddenly, but I felt the emotions as if it were happening in real time. I smelled the smells and saw and heard every nuance of it.

It was my time to leave this Earth, and upon coming to The Rainbow Bridge, not just one or two animals lifted their heads, but nearly 100 of them! Dogs, mice, and rabbits from my childhood, gerbils, hamsters, and cats from my adult life, all assembling in front of me as I arrived at the foot of the bridge. My grandmother, who I lost when I was barely 7, and my dad, who I lost 4 years ago (and a huge pet lover) strolled up, looking over the vast assembly of animals in front of me.

My mouth agape, I stood there as my grandmother said in her totally Jewish way, "well, well....why so many Judi? Who knew my granddaughter would love so many pets in her life!"

I pointed at my dad and said, "blame him! He taught me to love nature and animals!"

My dad just chuckled and said, "Judi...you never mentioned there were so MANY!" (on my dad's deathbed I asked him that when he gets 'there' to please love my pets already there until I join them, which he agreed to do. He'd asked how he would know which were mine, and I'd told him that his pictures hung in my home and my cats know what he looks like...they'd come to him if he called to them)

Then, in this, 'daydream' for lack of a better description (vision? lol) I stood nearly speechless, surveying the array of pets, saying, "oh my....oh my....." I saw pets from my childhood that I'd forgotten the names of, when I was very young, and their names popped into my head after so many years of fuzzy name recall, but strong love recall nonetheless, even as a young child. Sir Blanco...Bunnyboy....Bunnie and Clyde....Shady....Tigger...Pepper....the list was endless as their names sped through my memory.

I stood in the shower with tears running down my face as I literally lived the feeling of this daydream/vision. Very strange.

Then I saw myself open my arms wide and say, "well, are you all going to just gawk at me or are you going to come give mom some sugar?" (I have never actually used that phrase btw verbally, so I have no idea where that came from!)

As the collection of much missed pets surged forward, and I was surrounded and overcome with furry friends, I heard my dad laughing and saw my grandmother shaking her head but with a tiny smile on her lips, as the daydream/vision quite suddenly popped off. It was gone. Almost like a book closing, or a television turned off, it stopped so suddenly.

I stood in the shower with tears running down my face, smiling. Out loud I heard myself say, "oh, my.....". My heart swelled and I knew for certain that our loved pets await us somewhere 'out there', waiting to reunite with us when we leave this Earth, knowing fully how much we loved them.

Since that happened last night, peace about Pood's death has enveloped me, and my son after I told him about it.