By Ginny Mikita, Animal Blessings
“Just this side of Heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge.” — unknown
Almost without exception, someone during the monthly grief support group I facilitate will ask about or refer to ‘The Legend of the Rainbow Bridge’.
The Rainbow Bridge tells of a pastoral place filled with green meadows and hills located just outside of Heaven’s gates. According to the Legend, when a companion animal dies, he goes to this place — free of illness and injury but saddened by the continuing absence of his human companion. The animal, it continues, playfully romps with other animals as they patiently await the arrival of their human companions. Upon the death of an animal’s human companion, the two reunite to walk over the Bridge into Heaven, hand-in-paw, to live eternally ever after.
It is unknown who originally penned The Rainbow Bridge. A number of people claim authorship including the following: Paul C. Dahm, a grief counselor who is said to have written the poem in 1981 and published it in a 1998 book of the same name; William N. Britton, author of Legend of Rainbow Bridge; and Dr. Wallace Sife, head of the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement, whose poem All Pets Go to Heaven appears on the Association’s website as well as in his book, The Loss of a Pet.
Today, The Rainbow Bridge appears in publications as well as websites throughout the world. Veterinarians routinely provide copies to their human clients upon the death of a companion animal. There are a stack of take-home cards with the words printed on them sitting on a small table alongside a box of tissues in the Serenity Room, the room offered to people whose animals have just died, at the Humane Society. The Legend has inspired writers to gently dissect the rainbow by color and meaning and use it as a launching point for the development of a grieving kit. There is even an interactive virtual memorial home for companion animals at http:/www.rainbowsbridge.com.
The Rainbow Bridge is undergirded by what some would believe to be religious ideas of an afterlife and Heaven. While none of the world’s religions ascribe to such a place, in Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament in the Judeo-Christian tradition, after the Flood, God establishes a covenant Noah and “every living creature.” God tells Noah to keep an eye out for rainbows, as they will forever serve as a reminder of God’s eternal promise.
The Legend also shares similarities with the setting of Canadian Margaret Marshall Saunders’ 1902 book, Beautiful Joe’s Paradise. Her book was a sequel to her 1893 story, Beautiful Joe, for which she had won a Humane Society writing contest. Saunders’ vision in her book differs slightly from that of The Rainbow Bridge. In Saunders’ imagination, companion animals arrive to a green land to heal and learn from neglect and abuse suffered during their lives. When ready, animals are taken to Heaven by a balloon.
When The Rainbow Bridge is broached in our Group, the reactions mimic those I’ve received to my informal inquiry made in preparation for writing this month’s column. Most people experience an extreme response. Either the Legend provides a great source of comfort, or it evokes an expression of scornful derision.
Yesterday, a veterinarian friend of mine shared her love-hate relationship with the idea. On the one hand, she finds it to be a kitschy cliché to which people desperately cling for comfort. On the other, it actually is a source of deep comfort and healing. She went on to share that she had recently attended a conference in which The Rainbow Bridge was put to music and played during a guided grief meditation. My friend admitted to being instantly reduced to tears.
In the end, the critical question isn’t whether one believes in the existence of The Rainbow Bridge or not. What matters is whether The Rainbow Bridge is a meaningful source of comfort and light in the painful and dark journey of grieving.
Animal advocate and attorney Ginny Mikita is the founder of Animal Blessings, an organization dedicated to honoring the sacred worth of all animals. Mikita’s companion animal loss support services include facilitating a monthly Companion Animal Loss Grief Support Group, officiating an annual Memorial Service in December, writing grief columns for local publications and speaking at gatherings — local and national — of animal care and protection professionals. Additionally, Mikita regularly officiates Blessings of the Animals in both religious and secular environments.
