Coping with a Cat Loss: Rainbow Bridge

Have you ever heard about a Rainbow Bridge? What is it? What does it mean? Do you accept it in your heart? Do you feel anger or irritation about it?
This is my story. A story of a small part of feelings I went through when my cat Manya passed away. A finding I discovered. May be you will find something for yourself in this.

Rainbow Bridge

My Manya, my girl and my forever fur baby, passed away.

Days and months after, I was still going through a huge wave of various feelings and thoughts. I was broken and falling apart.
Any mentioning or thinking about our days together, looking at other cats, ended me up with tears or wet eyes. Many things in realising the situation had been constantly arisen rejection, aversion, and irritation.

One such things was… a Rainbow Bridge.

Before everything happened, I read and heard people saying that their beloved cat went to or crossed the Rainbow Bridge.
But I never understood by my heart the concept behind the Rainbow Bridge. It seemed for me they imagined something for themselves, to make themselves feel more comfortable in a difficult situation. And that was fine for me. I was fine until I faced that circumstances myself.

When Manya passed away, any thought about some rainbow bridge arose anger in me. The whole concept of my cat crossing something and going away somewhere, which I did not even know where and what that thing is was very irritating.

I never felt in my heart that Manya went to a “Rainbow Bridge” or any other bridge. May be because I had never deeply understood that concept.
Because many people were talking about “the bridge” when their cats passed away, and they seemed to be comfortable saying that their cat “crossed the bridge”, because of that I did not even expect that I would have no feelings about any “bridge” or thinking of it would be so irritating for me.

But it happened.

I hated even thinking about the Bridge or anything alike

Time passed. My heart and my soul were still struggling.

One day I was reading something and accidentally found words of an unknown author. Wonderful words that changed my perception and helped me to overcome at least one thing in a long journey.

This is what they said:

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. Her bright eyes are intent. Her eager body quivers. Suddenly she begins running from the group, flying over the green grass, her legs carrying her 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…

That turned me into crying. There was truth in that words. That was exactly what I was thinking about what-happens-next.

These words removed anger from my heart. The anger I felt imagining somebody saying “Manya crossed the Rainbow Bridge”.

What happened is that I just suddenly understood:
It is not about the bridge at all, it is about our feelings and believes.

Even the bridge thing was not real, it did not matter any more.
It let my soul find peace.

Tagged cat, coping, grief, info, loss, Manya, Mrs Cat, overcome, passed away, Rainbow Bridge