“Animals are divine
messengers of miracles that go far beyond emotional comfort and practical
assistance. Talk to those who have been transported to a heavenly place by the
gentle purring of a kitten or whose broken hearts, burdened by worry and pain, have
been mended by a dog licking their hand. They will tell you that animals
connect them with the River of Life in ways poets imagine and mystics
contemplate. They will tell you that their deepest and most sincere
relationships with animals are spiritual partnerships.” ― Allen Anderson
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| Odin and Cheyenne, at the magical spot . They have the fall bows on so hunters didn't mistake them for deer. |
I feel extremely fortunate to be able to resonate with this belief. I
believe in this fast paced world we live in, some people are not as fortunate
to have experienced this or maybe I should say, some have not been able to take
the time to pay attention to the animal messengers sent to us.
In my book “Furry Philosophy and Memoirs Set in Stone” I told a story
about an experience I had that emphasizes this point. It was about my dear dog
Cheyenne who is now at the rainbow bridge:
‘When Cheyenne
was still in this world, she, Odin and I would sometimes stop at one particular
spot. I would let the dogs sit and I’d take their photo. It is a spot where
nature made some pretty unique steps.
Not too long ago Odin and I stopped at that spot. When we do I always
think of Cheyenne. I say to Odin, “Say hi to Chey Chey.” On this particular day we stopped, and I said
that. Right at that exact moment a huge bald eagle flew out right above my head
with such a magical, swooping sound. I KNOW in my heart it was Cheyenne saying,
“Yes I am with you.”’
I KNOW in my heart this was Cheyenne;
although others may say this is just a coincidence. I call it faith.
Sadly, a few weeks ago, my dear dad went
to the next world. It’s so hard to lose a parent. I miss him so much. Dad was
sick for some time and I understand when people say it was a blessing. As much
as you want them to not suffer anymore it is so hard to say goodbye. You try to
think comforting thoughts. One thought that made me smile was that my Cheyenne
and Kashmir, who loved their ‘Papa’ so much, would have him on the other side
with them.
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| Dad loving his grand dogs on the boat |
My dad was quite a character. When he
would stay at my house, he would wake up before all of us and sit out on the
deck. We occasionally see bald eagles by our house. When we would get up dad
would tell us jokingly “I saw an eagle on the birdfeeder this morning while you
were sleeping.” We would laugh and say, “Right Dad.” Dad LOVED eagles, they
were his favorite creature. When we talked every day, one of his favorite
questions to ask was, “Have you seen the eagles lately?”
The day after my dad passed, I was
walking in the woods, thinking about my dad and trying to embed a permanent
memory of his voice in my head. Whenever my dad would call me in the past and I
was not home, being a creature of habit, he would leave the same exact message
every time. It would say, “It’s your dad. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” As I was walking in the woods, I heard that
message, in my head in my dad’s voice, at that EXACT moment an eagle flew over
my head and screeched. To me that is a
message Dad sent through this magnificent creature and I heard it loud and
clear. I cannot believe how many eagles I saw that week. When I opened the
patio door, one was right over head, and later that day four of them were
playing right in front of my house, swooping back and forth. The other morning
I was lying in bed watching, and watching the birds at the feeder when a hawk
swooped down and hovered over the birdfeeder like it was going to land, and
then it just took off. I thought to myself, “Very funny, Dad.”
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| Eagle pair on "Big Blue Lake" |