Goodbye Benjamin, I’ll See You on the Rainbow Bridge

Benjamin came to live with me in the fall of 1994.

I don’t really know how old he was when I found him, all I remember was the way he was shut up in a cage with a bunch of other young kittens.  It wasn’t a good life for any of them, and I had to take one little guy home with me.

I snuggled him in a blanket and had a box to carry him home.  I remember how pitifully he cried, and how he cowered for days.  It broke my heart how scared he was of voices and people and noises.  But I knew that he would now have a good home; a home where he would be well fed, have room to run and jump and play, and where there was enough love to always keep him safe.

Although Benjamin loved the four legged residents of the house, he never really warmed to people.  Loud voices or noises would cause him to go to ground.  He never became a lap cat and was never one to snuggle up next to me.  More often than not, he’d be content to find a bed to curl up on and was happy if he wasn’t disturbed.

Then one day I noticed that Benjamin had started slowing down.  He’d even let me pick him up – although I know that he still didn’t like it.  He walked a little bit slower, slept a little bit more, and had a little tougher time jumping up on the bed for his catnap.  As tough as it was to acknowledge, I think I’ve known for some time that Benjamin would be leaving soon, that the time was coming when I could no longer keep him safe. 

That time came earlier this evening, when his little heart just gave out.

The sweet little kitten who started out life in the most pitiful way had nearly 15 years of shelter, safety, and love.  I’m terribly sad right now, and I worry that there may have been something more that I could have done to help socialize him a little better.  But slowly, the days will get better.  And I’ll be able to look at pictures of him without feeling quite so sad.

Today, I’ll just let the tears flow.  There’s time to start healing tomorrow.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.  When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.  There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.  All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….

– author unknown

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