In June 2000, I moved back with my parents, along with my 2 dogs, Bart and Marbles, after ending a 5-year relationship. A few months later, I got an apartment. However, the landlord wouldn’t allow pets in the apartment. My parents kindly offered to keep the dogs, and it seemed like the perfect arrangement; my parents are both retired, so I knew the dogs wouldn’t be alone all day, as I work a full-time job. Not that the dogs did anything bad when I wasn’t there, but they’re like children to me; I didn’t like the thought of them being alone for hours. Moreover, I lived only about 10 minutes away from my parents’ house, so I could visit them as often as I wanted.
My parents were thrilled, because they had practically fallen in love with Bart and Marbles, and they were their joy, just as they are mine. My mother would take them for walks during the day, and my father would play with them and feed them to no end, to their delight, of course… Bart was the oldest of the two, 8 years old at the time, and Marbles was almost 3… Bart was the “quiet” type, not much for play but loved to cuddle; he was like a teddy bear. Marbles was the most playful; you could say he’s got the energy
of 2 dogs inside him!!
On Friday, July 25, 2003, around 3:30 pm, my mother called me at work and asked me to drop by and see her on my way home from work, but she wouldn’t say why. The sound of her voice told me something was wrong, but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. So at 5 o’clock, I left work and headed off to my parents’. When I got there, I was devastated: it was Bart. He was very sick; I had never seen him like that before. It’s hard to explain. From what my parents said, it started around 3 o’clock; he seemed to be having seizures or something, and it hadn’t stopped in over 2 hours. My parents were distraught and didn’t know what to do. Marbles also knew something was wrong; his “uncle Bart” wasn’t his usual self. My mother had been tending to him, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. I was in total disbelief; the previous day, Bart had been running around and playing in the yard all afternoon. There were no signs of any health problems; of course, he was a bit overweight, and did have asthma, but it was kept under control.
I had to think fast; I couldn’t stand seeing Bart like that. I called up the emergency on-call vet and told her about our situation. I told her we’d be bringing Bart in as soon as possible. Somehow I knew this would be his last trip to the vet… The next thing was to figure out who would go to the vet with him. My mother wanted to go, as she wanted to be with him until the end; my parents had gotten very attached to my dogs, since they had been living with them for 3 years now. But she said she wouldn’t be able to drive there. I said there was no way I could drive either; I was already in tears at the thought of losing my precious Bart. I also had to think about Marbles; he had never been all alone in his life, as Bart had always been there, ever since he was a pup.
So we decided that my parents would go to the vet (my father would drive), and I’d stay with Marbles; we couldn’t take him along at the vet because he was already very nervous about the whole situation. It broke my heart not to be able to go to the vet with Bart, but on the other hand, I knew he wouldn’t be all alone, as he’d have both my parents with him until the end.
So my parents left with Bart, and I stayed with Marbles. When my parents pulled out of the driveway I fell to my knees and cried. My heart was breaking. I don’t know how long I stayed there. After awhile I got up, gathered my thoughts and turned to Marbles. I decided to take him for a drive, to try and take his mind – and mine – off the whole situation. I drove up to my apartment; I figured the landlord wouldn’t mind if I had Marbles there with me for just a couple of hours. We went inside for a bit, but then I decided to take him outside; he didn’t come to my apartment often, so he’d probably be happy to be able to explore the surroundings.
There’s a dirt road behind my apartment, leading to a large field, so I decided to head down that road, since I wouldn’t have to keep Marbles on a leash; he preferred running free. He was running around, sniffing the flowers and grass. It was a hot and sunny summer day, and there were a few clouds in the sky, but no rain. Marbles and I made our way to the end of the dirt road, to the open field. After awhile, I looked up in the sky, and in a patch of clouds, I saw a rainbow, even if it hadn’t rained in the past 3 or 4 days. I looked at the time; it was about 6:40 pm. I started crying again; to me, the rainbow was a sign that Bart had passed on.
After crying for a few minutes, I went back inside with Marbles. About 45 minutes later, my mother called me to let me know they were back from the vet, and that Bart was finally at peace. I asked her if she knew what time it was when Bart passed… She said it was 6:40… So I cried again, both tears of sadness and joy; sadness for losing my little Bart, but also tears of joy and relief that he wasn’t suffering anymore.
I asked my mother what the vet said about Bart’s condition. She said it was a brain tumour (the effects triggered by the high heat of that summer day), and that there was nothing she could have done to save him. At least I was happy that I made the choice of not waiting any longer; Bart was such a good boy, he didn’t deserve to be in pain. And it’s comforting to know that my parents were with him, so he was surrounded by love until the very end.
But most importantly, I’m thankful for the rainbow I saw that day… I know in my heart it was Bart telling me he had made it across the “Rainbow Bridge” and that he was finally free of all pain. It was the best gift he could’ve given me; now I know that someday, I’ll see him again…Thank you, Bart, for the love and joy you brought to me
in our time together.
Thank you for the silly little games we used to play and all the times you cuddled in bed with me at night. Thank you for being such a wonderful furbaby. You took a piece of my heart when you left, but oh, the memories you gave me… I think I’ve gotten the better part of that deal…
Run free and play, and be happy, dear boy…
I’ll meet you again at Rainbow Bridge someday…
I love you!!
| Bart |
| Sophie |