Healing Our Kindred Spirits
Healing Our Kindred Spirits Podcast is a safe space for seekers, survivors, and storytellers—those navigating life’s turning points, searching for meaning, and longing for deeper connection.
It’s about embracing and celebrating the human journey—our struggles, transformations, and the deeper spiritual connections that guide us. Through personal stories, intuitive wisdom, and holistic insights, we explore how mind, body, and spirit intertwine in our search for healing, meaning, and growth and connection.
Through soulful storytelling, intuitive reflections, and heartfelt letters, this podcast explores the unseen threads that weave us together.
Hosted by Donna Gaudette a spiritual intuitive advisor, Healing Our Kindred Spirits blends personal narratives with universal wisdom, inviting you to embrace resilience, trust your inner knowing, and find solace in shared experiences. Whether you’re in the midst of transformation or simply searching for a sign, this is a safe space to feel heard, held, and reminded that you are never alone.
New episodes every week as well as original guided meditations. Listen, and reconnect with your own kindred spirit.
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Healing Our Kindred Spirits
The Rainbow Bridge Memorial: How One Dog's Legacy Changed a Community
Grief has no measure when it comes to losing the animals who shared our lives and hearts. For many of us, they aren't just pets—they're family members, soul companions, and kindred spirits whose absence leaves a profound emptiness.
Donna Gaudette opens her heart, sharing the raw pain of losing her beloved cats—Princess Fluffy Butt, who passed suddenly at just three years old, and Tinkerbell, her white blue-eyed companion of 21 years. These losses, though years apart, still resonate deeply. When an animal who has witnessed your most vulnerable moments, offered unconditional love, and even seemed to intuitively understand your pain is suddenly gone, where do you put that grief?
Society often fails to acknowledge the depth of pet loss, leaving many to whisper their heartbreak rather than speak it aloud. Yet as Sandra's letter poignantly illustrates, this grief can be overwhelming—sometimes even more intense than human loss, triggering questions about whether pets go to heaven and if we did enough during their final days.
The episode takes a remarkable turn when we meet Sherry Dumont, whose 14-year-old King Charles Cavalier, Bentley, inspired something beautiful in Attleboro, Massachusetts. After struggling to find closure following Bentley's passing, Sherry created a Rainbow Bridge Memorial—a physical space where people leave their pets' collars, share stories, and find community in their shared loss. What began as one woman's tribute has become sacred ground for countless grieving pet owners.
Whether you're currently navigating the fresh pain of saying goodbye or carrying the quiet ache of a pet who crossed years ago, this episode reminds us that our grief is valid, our love mattered, and there are ways to honor these extraordinary souls who leave paw prints on our hearts. Listen, share, and remember—in your grief, you are never alone.
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To watch the news interview with Sherri, click the link below.
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The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are for informational and entertainment purposes only and do not constitute professional advice. Listener discretion is advised and we encourage you to seek appropriate guidance for your individual circumstances. The hosts and guests are sharing personal experiences and perspectives which may not reflect those of our listeners. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Welcome back to Healing Our Kindred Spirits. I'm Donna Gaudet and I'm so grateful you're here.
Speaker 1:Today's episode is one that may stir some tender places in your heart, especially if you've ever had to say goodbye to a beloved pet. If you have, whether it was recent or years ago, know that this space holds you gently today. Grief is never tidy and when it comes to our pets, the loss often goes unspoken or even unacknowledged. But for so many of us they aren't just pets, they're family. But for so many of us they aren't just pets, they're family, they're our soul companions, they're healers with fur, feathers, scales, and they're even our own kindred spirits. So today I want to talk about what it means to grieve these kindred spirits, and later I'm joined by someone whose compassion for this unique kind of grief has created something beautiful and lasting in her own community. Sherry Dumont is the heart behind a very special Rainbow Bridge in Attleboro, massachusetts, and we're going to speak with her in a little while.
Speaker 1:I have had many pets in my life, mostly cats, but a few small dogs as well, and last year I had to say goodbye to my ginger cat Fluffy. Actually her full name was Princess Fluffy Butt, because she had a lot of fur. She was very fluffy and her butt was fluffy. She was an orange kitty, that was. She was just so fluffy and so soft and she had the soul of an angel. Her passing was sudden and she was only three. She wasn't sick at all. She was jumping to the cat tree and she landed wrong and she cried out in pain. It was the most heart-wrenching cry I've ever heard.
Speaker 1:We took her to the emergency vet and they told us that she was paralyzed from the waist down and that she was in terrible, excruciating pain and they could give her something for pain but it wasn't going to last and that it was a very painful condition, that it was irreversible. They said her spine had severed and if I had unlimited financial resources I would have moved heaven and earth and gone to the ends of the earth to heal her. But like most people. We don't have that luxury. We had to make the hard decision that most pet owners will have to make at some point in their life, and it is the hardest thing, one of the hardest things you will ever have to make at some point in their life. And it is the hardest thing, one of the hardest things you will ever have to do. And if you have done it, my heart is with you. I know how you feel. You are not alone and I hope you never have to go through that again. But loving a beloved pet who becomes part of a family, it's that feeling that someday they're not going to be here anymore and that's very difficult. But there's a lot of living between A and B. They said that she would not recover and we had to make the heart wrenching decision to let her go with love. It was one of my most terrible days and if you've ever lost a pet, you know the feeling. I don't need to describe it. And, sadly again, many of us will do this several times, as ever, because we usually don't just have one pet. Most of us have two pets or more in our lifetime, and right now I have five indoor cats that are a family to us Another cat I'd like to talk about that I had for 21 years.
Speaker 1:She was a white, beautiful, not overly fluffy, but she had enough fur to be fluffy and not sharp furred. A white cat with blue eyes and her name was Tinkerbell and she was my baby and she was an angel. She would lie on me and I know I know she tried to heal my cancer when I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in 2020, she would just lie on my abdomen and knew she was trying to heal me, and we've heard before about animals being very intuitive. If they suddenly go up and start licking a particular area on your body, pay attention to that. There could be something wrong, even though we may not know it or have any signs of it. Pay attention to that because animals are very, very, very intuitive. And sadly, a year after my cancer surgery, she passed away and, ironically, she had endometrial cancer.
Speaker 1:Tink was an indoor kitty and very, very timid. Just taking her to the vet for a regular appointment caused her so much distress and, strangely, tinkerbell hardly ever went into heat. She was one of those odd cats that hardly ever went into heat. She was an indoor kitty so we never got her spayed and the vet had said, to alleviate some of the stress every time she went to the vet, if she's an indoor kitty and she's not going into heat and she's healthy not to worry about it. So we never got her spayed. She never had kittens, she was never around other unfixed male cats and again at time of the vet told us that we did not have to get her spayed because she was one of those odd, weird cats that really went into heat.
Speaker 1:But sadly, not getting her spayed left her open to having endometrial cancer later in life and if I had known that in the beginning, I would have gotten her spayed and I can't tell you how guilty I felt because of that. And when we took her to the vet and it was still around the pandemic, it was 2021. When we took her to the vet, it was a different vet that we normally would use because it's very difficult to get into vets at that point and they were great for her. But they made me feel as a pet owner and I hate to use that word owner, but as a caretaker and loving parent of a pet they made me feel really guilty because we hadn't gotten her spayed. They made me feel that it was my fault and I felt terrible for that. And I still do. At times I still feel guilty for that. But I loved her so much that I actively grieved for her for a few years. I still grieve for her.
Speaker 1:She was my baby. I would call her and she would come and lie on the bed with me and strangely enough she passed a few months after we got Fluffy as a kitten. But she taught her well because Fluffy would lie on me the same way that Tink did and when I would say it was time to go nighty night she would always be facing me. When I said it was time for nighty night, she would turn herself around and face the end of the bed and she did that every night and Fluffy did the same thing. So she taught her well. And I have a little thimble size urn with each of their cremains some of their cremains in it and I have it engraved with their name and the date they passed. And that may sound odd to some people, but you have to do what brings you comfort and that brings me comfort because I know they were always in my room, they were always with me and having just a little piece of them. Close by it means the world to me and they still visit me from time to time, especially Fluffy, because I could feel the weight on the blanket and Tikipo was very, very lightweight, but I could sense her presence. In the same thing with Fluffy, I could always sense her presence when she's coming to visit me. I could always feel her.
Speaker 1:And pet loss is hard and when we choose to love a pet, they become family. They're woven into our lives and because they are family and they will be family, I could never imagine my life without a cat, or two or three, and I give special kudos to people who foster animals or take care of feral cats. They feed them, they give them shelter, they look after them and I know quite a few people who do that and my heart goes out to you because I know it's an expense and it's challenging, but thank you for taking care of the feral cats and thank you for fostering For those who foster. Thank you for what you do and every night when I say my prayers, I always part of my prayer is please find homes for all the lost, abandoned or abused kitty cats and please help the shelters find the resources they need to help off-feline friends. Not that I'm eliminating any of the other pets, but this is something that's personal for me.
Speaker 1:My son and his family were staying with us for a few months and they had seven indoor cats, all neutered or spayed, and they were all related. We got to know these kitties and they became part of our family. They were quiet, they were well behaved and they have since moved into their own place and the kitties are gone. They're gone with them and as well I grieved their absence. Why? Because they weren't mine, we didn't own them, we weren't their pet parents, but because they were always in the area that we were and we got to see them every day because we're here 24-7,. They got to be a part of our lives and when something becomes a part of your life and you care for them, you nurture them, you see them, you give them treats, you play with them, they become part of your life. So even though we have four now five of our own, I have a big heart and lots of love and they were very well loved while here and on the upside.
Speaker 1:They did allow the oldest kitty, charity, to stay with us, as the transition would be much too much for her. It was a hard decision for them, as they had her for 14 years, but they knew it was best for her and we got attached to her and she became inseparable with my husband and I and she will live the rest of her life with us, however long or short that may be, and we know she may have limited time because she does have some health challenges. But we are grateful to have her in our lives and we are grateful to them that they allowed her to stay with us and I don't consider them giving her to us. I think we're just the caretakers, because I still feel that she is their kitty and she always will be, but allowing us to take care of her in the midst of them moving and getting everything taken care of and getting acclimated again, and they made the best decision for her and her interests and I do appreciate that. And they know that she is very, very well taken care of.
Speaker 1:Now I asked a few months ago for our listeners to share stories about their pets, and I want to read one that hit home for me. We all have regrets of the should haves, could haves and did we do enough? We also question do our pets go to heaven. What do you think? What's your take on that? Do you think that when a pet passes they go to heaven? I'd like to know your thoughts on that.
Speaker 1:So this letter is from Sandra and she has given me permission to read her letter verbatim on the podcast. And let me start it now. And she writes my 15 year old red bone coon hound, rosie Ann, passed away in May from a brain tumor. We noticed she was tremoring randomly, so took her to the vet in April. After many questions, the vet told us he believed she had a brain tumor and gave us medication to keep her comfortable.
Speaker 1:Over the next few weeks we witnessed her deteriorating and on May 17th my husband took her to the vet for the last time. On the evening of November 16th my 12-year-old beagle, oliver Anthony, started to vomit and couldn't get comfortable. So Sunday morning the 17th we took him to the emergency room. They ran some tests and determined his gallbladder was not functioning and his liver numbers were very bad. There wasn't anything they could do because of his advanced age. He was suffering, so we held him while we euthanized him. I miss them both so much. I have been reading about whether dogs go to heaven. There are opinions on both sides as to whether they do or not.
Speaker 1:Many say that because they don't have a soul, they do not go to heaven. Others say that dogs are man's best friend and they do indeed go to heaven. When my husband had Rosie euthanized, I didn't go. I had previously made arrangements to travel to Philadelphia. My brother was waiting for a liver transplant and was within hours of death. I visited with him on Friday May 17th, not knowing if I would ever see him again. He received a cadaver liver on Sunday May 19th.
Speaker 1:Part of me feels guilty for not spending more time saying goodbye to my Rosie. I kissed her and told her I loved her and headed out the door. I regret not rubbing her belly and taking in her scents for a longer time. Part of me is angry with my brother for being a drunk and causing himself to need a liver and subsequently me not being there being with Rosie when she passed. I regret not bringing Oliver to the vet earlier in the morning and feel guilty that he was suffering and his suffering was longer than if I had been more attentive. I try and tell myself that my fur babies had a wonderful life and lived better than people who live in the inner cities. I try and be thankful for all the wonderful memories that I have of them, but it hurts more than I imagined it would. I feel guilty that I have lost humans and didn't feel as bad as I do over the loss of my pets. I hope by me sharing my feelings, others may share their experiences and we can heal together. Sandra, I appreciate your honesty and your vulnerability and grateful that you wanted me to read your email verbatim. That was a true act of courage and I appreciate it. I truly hope that time has eased some of your grief and that you have found some peace. We never get over losing a beloved pet or even a loved one. We get through it and over time that grief becomes a little more bearable. We are able to exhale and eventually to find some peace.
Speaker 1:I responded back to Sandra that we all hold an element of guilt, not thinking we did enough. I went through the same thing. We do the same when a loved one passes, don't we? We always replay the final days and wonder if we did enough, and the answer is yes. We may not feel it at the time, but we did wonder if we did enough, and the answer is yes. We may not feel it at the time, but we did everything that we could do. I told Sandra that it was normal to feel the way she did in of the questions of do our pets go to heaven? And I, without a doubt, know that they do.
Speaker 1:I have done many readings for people who have lost pets and I assure you, when we cross over, our pets are there to greet us. And what's important to realize and I realize this as well grief is not measured by species, just like love isn't either. So why do we often feel like we have to hide the depth of our heartbreak when a pet dies? Why do we whisper that pain rather than speak it out loud? How do we share that great love we had for our beloved animal companions? And you'll notice that people who've never had a pet will not understand your grief because they've never been through it. But when you can connect with other people who have gone through something similar, that's where you will find your kindred spirits, in your people.
Speaker 1:I think part of the healing is reclaiming the full story, naming the loss, the love, the legacy that these pets have left behind. And I know in prior episodes we've talked about the five stages of grief, as well as the sixth stage of grief, which we know as finding meaning. And that brings me to something truly remarkable that happened in Attleboro Massachusetts. Sherry Dumont was the driving force to create a Rainbow Bridge Memorial in Attleboro Massachusetts, a space where people can honor and remember their animal companions. Sherry, thank you for being here.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here with you today.
Speaker 1:Good, can you tell me about Bentley? What was he like?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Bentley was a 14-year-old King Charles Cavalier and he was the very first pet I ever actually had. I bought him. My child was struggling when she was younger, she was sick and I bought Bentley to kind of be her dog and help her through life. But for some reason, from the very beginning he just kind of picked me. I was his owner and so we had a very strong connection right from the second I brought him home. But he was just really gentle and loving and just super loyal. But honestly, Donna, there was always something about that dog, from the second I owned him until the second that he passed on, and I always, always knew that his purpose on life was here, was just way bigger than me and it was way bigger than being my pet and I had thought that throughout his whole life but it really didn't hit me until he actually had passed away.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, do you think he was brought into your life for a reason, by, maybe, a higher force?
Speaker 2:I mean it's hard to say right, but I certainly went into purchasing him with the intent that he was going to be my daughter's dog. He had a different intent. I don't know what led him to me, but certainly I feel like it was something. He was a really interesting soul. He had a way about him that would just have people gravitate towards him. I can't even tell you how many people loved Bentley but always would say to me so weird, I don't even really like dogs, but I love Bentley. He just had this way about him. People would just gravitate towards him for some reason, gravitate towards him for some reason, and I, just after he passed it was really pulling at me that I had to do something big for him, that his purpose was not just to be here and be a pet and leave.
Speaker 1:And I know sometimes we don't choose our pets, they choose us. That's what happened with Bentley. You may go in with a certain intention of I know this happened with choosing a pet before. My son went into the pet shop looking for a particular dog and we left with something totally different, because sometimes it's just a pet will just call out to you and that'll be it. I'm done, and sometimes it's the unexpected journey that you take with them that makes the most sense in your life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we certainly went on a journey together. That dog and I for sure I mean I had, you know, I raised a sick child he was there through all of that. I was a single mom for most of her life. He was there for the good, the bad, the ugly, but he wanted to do anything I wanted to do. If I wanted to go on a golf cart ride, he wanted to come. If I wanted to go kayaking, he wanted to come. If I wanted to paddleboard, he wanted to paddleboard. So we just really had a strong, strong connection from just the second he came to my house until the second he was no longer here for sure.
Speaker 1:And I'm sure his passing is still very difficult. How long has it been since he passed?
Speaker 2:He passed in July two years ago. And, donna, you know, you of all people know that I've suffered some significant loss in my life from the human aspect. But I had never felt what it would feel like losing a pet, nevermind my very first pet that I had, and so the grief that I felt was just unexplainable. I could not get past it and I feel like, as sad as it is, I'm kind of an expert in grief, right, I've done it, I've grieved humans, I've grieved my own mom and for some reason I really could not get past the grief of Bentley. And I don't know if it was they don't ever do anything bad to you, that you know. There's no life of animosity with them at all.
Speaker 2:For whatever reason, the grieving process was insanely difficult for me. I could not get over it. I could not get past it. I was crying for weeks and weeks and weeks and I just couldn't seem to pull myself together. And that typically is not me, right. I usually can see it for what it's worth and grieve and move on and still feel pain and sadness in my heart, but go on with my day to day. And I could not do that with Bentley.
Speaker 2:I mean, he passed in July and I think I went until I don't know, maybe around October-ish, where I was starting to feel like, okay, he has this bigger purpose. What is this bigger purpose? It doesn't end here, and that's all that was really just pulling at me over and over. It does not end here for him. And I was scrolling on TikTok I came across I was obviously, you know, the rainbow bridge was so significant in my TikTok because I was grieving and so I feel like that algorithm was following me around and I came across this bridge in North Carolina and the second I saw it I knew that that was the purpose. I knew that he was called to put a bridge here locally and from that point on I kind of turned that grief into ambition and was determined to make that happen here.
Speaker 1:I can tell that, and what you've helped build, it's more than just a memorial. It feels like sacred ground for so many and this sparked a vision for you, it seems. And was there anything in particular that drew you to that Rainbow Bridge? I know you had mentioned before the Rainbow Bridge poem you created.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it was. I think the poem itself is significant, but I think it was the not having closure Right. That was a big piece. For me. I feel like an animal death and a human death are two completely different experiences at the end, and I was really struggling with the fact that there was no. For me, anyways, there was no closure. Just picking up his ashes at the vet, I didn't feel like that gave me the closure that I personally needed, gave me the closure that I personally needed.
Speaker 2:And so the thought of the bridge to me was like oh, somewhere where people can go and put their pet's collar there and just find some solitude and peace and have a place to go back, whether that's month after month or year after year on the anniversary, where they can actually physically so kind of set out with that. Actually, you put in the study and I didn't know a guy in the department, so I had pitched the idea to him and when I first went to pitch it to him, I asked him do you have any pets? And he's like no, I don't. And I'm like you might not be the person I need to pitch this to, but you know, maybe you don't get this and I gave him my idea and he's like no, I absolutely love it and I see such a huge need in the community for it, whether it was, you know, parents bringing their little children there and explaining you know death of a family pet to their children, or whether it was somebody elderly who that's all they had, right?
Speaker 2:And so the bridge was going to be this kind of universal symbol in the city, where it wasn't just for, you know, an adult, it was really for anybody, right, it was, I feel, like every single person story is different in what their family pets mean to them, or you know how they need to grieve that or, like like I said, just helping little children kind of understand that it was a place for everybody. And so I gave them my vision and he was on board with it, and so he kind of jumped through the city legalities for everybody, and so I gave them my vision and he was on board with it, and so he kind of jumped through the city legalities for me, and I think I want to say we knew fairly quickly that it was approved. It was amazing.
Speaker 2:And then we just had to wait for the nice weather to come last year in the spring, and um, and then we started, uh, all winter. Once I knew it was approved. I had, uh, a guy who was my local handyman, mike Tereny's handyman. He helped me so much at my house. Ironically, he was my contractor, but his wife actually owned Bentley's brother and um, so I went to him and asked him hey, hey, kid, would you build this bridge for me? And um, he was like, absolutely so. He built it in my garage and um, I worked on painting it. I got all the paint colors from triborough paint. Those guys helped me over there in north attleboro.
Speaker 2:And then I wanted to put a memorial bench up with a plaque, um, in bent memory. And so Dorrance Recycling in Norton actually donated some granite for us to put a bench there too, and so we have some nice signs up there. One actually does have the rainbow bridge poem. Another sign is just something I kind of wrote up so that people kind of knew what the bridge was if they just happened to stumble upon it at the park, right, right, um, but it's grown, uh, this certainly, um, it's grown very quickly.
Speaker 2:There's been a lot of press around it and um, it's been inspiring people's messages that I've gotten, um, who have either stumbled across it when they happened to lose a pet, didn't even know it was there and just ended up at that bridge oh, that was timing, it really is. Or just you know people that are so thankful to just have that place, that other people were feeling that, that they, that they needed a place to go, and you know there's definitely over a hundred callers there now and it's been cool to see how the community has grown over there. It's dog callers, it's cat callers, we even have some horse harnesses over there.
Speaker 2:So people are certainly taking advantage of the space and using it like their own. They write, some people write little notes and, you know, leave it with rocks. Over there there's been some people who have kind of painted some kindness rocks and left them, so it's been really great, awesome.
Speaker 1:So it wouldn't be the original plan or the insight that you had. It went way beyond that.
Speaker 2:It did. It really did. It's been amazing. I'm so glad that people are finding some peace over there. It's in a beautiful park. The city it used to be a golf course. The city of Attleboro took over Highland Park and they let me put it in the park over there and so a lot of people have been using that kind of as a dog park, walk their dogs and stuff. So it's a great little location and people kind of have come from all over just to kind of come and see it, which has been really cool.
Speaker 1:So what you've helped build is more than just a memorial. It feels like maybe, sacred ground for so many people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think it's definitely gotten to that point. You know, it's to me it's a memorial, right To me it's it's it's Bentley's memorial, and every time I go there it's Bentley's memorial, and every time I go there I cannot help but smile. I do not, donna. I thought I would cry every single time I visited the bridge. I just don't. I find a lot of peace over there. I walk my two other dogs there constantly and I just, every time I go, I just can't help but love it. It's exactly what he would have wanted, like. I feel like it was the right thing and that that was the purpose.
Speaker 1:I really do feel that and the idea of a place to go, and I really feel that so deeply. Grief can feel so rootless and you created a way to anchor it and turning that dream into something tangible, or that feeling into something tangible, and that's beautiful and I can imagine every collar, every name etched on them carries a whole life behind it and I think that's what touched me the most. I know who that is. It's not only a space for mourning, it's also a place for memory, for storytelling, and I'm also going to put the link on the news for the new story at the end of the episode, as well as on the Facebook page. So somebody wanted to go and see the link or see the video of it, they can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Do you ever hear from people who felt seen for the first time in their Um, you know, the the news station had interviewed um a couple of people that day and I'm not sure that they all made the segment. Um, but people that had come out to the ribbon cutting uh, cause we had quite the support show up at the ribbon cutting were really, um, people that were looking for um a way to move on. Um, you know, uh, they couldn't get past their own grief and they heard about the bridge. And so there was some people that had lost their pet that week that heard about the um the ribbon cutting and had to come down. Uh, there was a gentleman who wrote a book, um, yeah, oh, he wrote a book about um and from a dog's perspective, he came with an autographed copy of that to give to me.
Speaker 2:Oh, my goodness, yeah, there's an amazing business in town, not far one town over in Rehoboth, called Chartley Country Store. They've been big supporters of the bridge since the very beginning and you know they actually came to the ribbon cutting. They had lost a dog. They knew what that grief was, but shortly thereafter they actually got a puppy and they had messaged me saying thank you for doing the bridge, because they felt like they finally had a place to let their dog rest and that that gave them the ability to move forward. So that was really cool.
Speaker 1:That's a great testament for what you did. Yeah, like I said it was with community as well. It was the idea. You dug the idea, you had it, but you had so much support from so many people to make this become a reality.
Speaker 1:That really now it's going to be there for other people to not I want to say enjoy, but be able to find some comfort within their grief, because people that are even silently grieving a pet, maybe even months or years later, sometimes they still carry that ache and they just don't know how to say goodbye Because, like you said, the ashes left behind. What do you do? You want something, you need something more. You need something to have meaning for his life. And because he came into your life and had such a purpose, even when he's gone, with him being gone, he still has a purpose, and that must make you feel really good because it kind of warms my own soul that I feel so much better.
Speaker 2:Donna, like I know, this was the reason he was here and it was to. Yes, I had to hurt, to go through it and I had to feel that grief and feel what it was like to not have any closure, but I think that was all part of it. I had to do that to realize that his purpose was bigger and I needed to give people a space to say goodbye to their pet and feel like they had a place to revisit.
Speaker 1:And do you think it made it a little less hard, a little easier for you to be able to invite other pets into your life after his passing?
Speaker 2:So when I was putting the bridge together and all of that, I would have told you absolutely not, I would have said that I can't do it. But very shortly after we got the OK on the bridge, my husband had kind of seen that I was itching and that I had a loss right, a void of Bentley I knew I was never going to be able to fill. And so he did get us a mini English bulldog and I was not ready for her. But I will tell you that, uh, she was quite ready for us and, um, yeah, she's going on, she'll be two, uh, this year and she is full of life and she's like having a full-time toddler. But but, um, she makes us laugh every single day. And so, uh, she certainly, um, did not fill the void of Bentley by any means. I don't think any dog ever will for me, um, but she is what I needed in the moment and we have a lot of fun with her.
Speaker 2:So that's good yeah, yeah, and I had another pet when Bentley passed. I had a Mastiff, ryder, and even Ryder was really, really sad after Bentley left, and the little bulldog Rayleigh. She has brought the life back out in Ryder as well, so I think Ryder also needed her.
Speaker 1:And a lot of people don't realize that when we have multiple pets and a pet passes, they grieve just like we do. They're part of their lives and they see them every day and they interact with them, they play with them and when they're gone we never give a second thought to oh, my pet may be grieving, because it does happen. Oh, absolutely, I've seen it happen with my own pets and pets are very intuitive. They will pick up on your grief, they will pick up on your cues and if you're sad, they're going to be sad. And it's not that you're replacing the pet that you lost, but you're bringing in the energy of another pet to help the grieving process, not to replace the pet you lost, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and it does help as much as you know. I think people say that and you're like no way, no way, it's not going to help me you know, but it really does help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it does. And for those people who, you know, are thinking about getting, not getting another pet after they lost a pet, and I went through the same thing when I, when I had, you know, lose a pet, and I said I wouldn't, I never want to go through this again, so I'm never going to get another pet. And what do I do?
Speaker 1:Of course, because we don't have that much love to give. How can you not? Yeah, and that's the hard part of loving a pet is having to say goodbye because you know it's going to be a goodbye.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:But it's that, living in between, from point A to point B, absolutely, you have all that living and loving to do, and why not shower that love onto another pet, whether it has four legs, two legs, it has fins it has a tail. It doesn't matter if you have how much love to give. Not giving it is a waste. You know, it's like gratitude and not showing it. You know why? Keep it in a box, Give it.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Share it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, for sure, I agree. I think the same thing, you know it's they give you lifetime of happiness.
Speaker 1:Yes, the goodbye is really really, really hard. Yeah, let's say it the way it is. Yeah and so bad, but I think really bad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, what they give you, what they give you is so much greater, I feel like I believe I believe, and me too, and I feel like even after they are gone, right, their memory does live on. Like my family and I, we still talk about bentley constantly, right and just funny memories of him or things he did or um, and so he's still, you know, keeping that um, but still keeping that memory alive for sure and that's important even with people, when they pass, you know you want to talk about them, keep their memory alive.
Speaker 1:It's the same thing as our pets. They were such an integral part of our lives that we want to keep that memory going, and we should absolutely definitely should.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, I'm so glad I learned more about the Rainbow Bridge today and about Bentley.
Speaker 1:Yes, and to those listening, whether you're an animal companion head fur, feathers, fins, or whether you never got to say goodbye the way you needed please know your grief is valid, your love mattered and your heart has every right to ache. And maybe, just maybe, you'll light a candle tonight or look up at the stars and whisper their name, or even visit a space like Sherry's Rainbow Bridge and remember that grief is simply love continuing on. Maybe you can't create a memorial like Sherry did, but there are ways to memorialize your companion. You can plant a tree, volunteer at a local animal shelter or rescue, donate to a local shelter or rescue. You can adopt or for a pet companion. It's not that you're replacing your beloved pet, but when you have so much love to give and your capacity for loving and caring for another companion is out there, you should never doubt that you should spread that love. And, sherry, thank you so much again for sharing bentley's story with us in your devotion to this cause thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:And can you give the name of the park again?
Speaker 2:Sure, it's called. Yeah, anybody that's looking for it, they can find it. It's the Rainbow Bridge at Highland Park and my information is on Facebook. So if they search the Rainbow Bridge at Highland Park, it does have a page and it is on Rathburn Willard Drive in Attleboro. When people search Highland Park it comes up with a different address and that's just the main entrance of the park. But the easiest way to navigate to the bridge is from the parking lot on Rathburn Willard Drive.
Speaker 1:Okay, good, and if anyone has any questions of how to reach Sherry, they can reach out to me directly. And is it okay to give an email for you if someone reaches out, or?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I would. I have the message, the Facebook page. I certainly it comes right to me, so I'd be happy to answer any questions that anybody has Good, because you may.
Speaker 1:You may be the force behind somebody else, maybe wanting to do the same thing in their community, because the podcast is reaching really all over the world. We have listeners from many continents already, so someone may want to go out and do that rainbow bridge or do something similar. They may have questions.
Speaker 2:That's awesome.
Speaker 1:And until next time, be gentle with yourself, be gentle with others and know that in this sacred space, your spirit and theirs is always held. And again, thank you, sherry, for being part of the podcast and thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me Appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
