Brizzy's Rainbow Day

It is with great sadness and a broken heart that I have to write what I never wanted to write ... that yesterday we sent our sweet Brizzy over the Rainbow Bridge. His spirit was strong but his body was too weak, and the cancer won. But it didn't win out quickly! It was a fight to the finish, not just by us but by this magnificent, gentle, strong-willed woof. I have learned some powerful lessons from him about strength and the will to keep going, and about loving others so much that you want to stay with them despite pain and difficulties and a body that can't cooperate like it used to.

Sometimes we are lucky to be blessed with special individuals who come into our life and touch us in ways we never thought possible. Brizzy has enriched me in just such a way. He taught me deep lessons about unconditional love and how to really enjoy the quiet, peaceful moments in life. He taught me how to sacrifice for another being and to give up my own wants for the wants of another. He gave Ruth the most sacred gift of all: what it feels like to be a mother. She who is a wonderful soul and who has longed for a family, but who hasn't had the privilege of being married and bearing children (yet), had this wonderful dog to fill the gap. Even though he was a dog and not a human child, Ruth loved him and cared for him as if he were her child. They had a very special bond, those two, and it was a privilege to be a part of it in my small way. Mostly I was the sister and the "alternate mom," which is a pretty good role for someone as independent as I.

Brizzy shared with me the gift of living in the moment and boy did he have a thing or two to teach me about enjoying FOOD! (Not that I needed that lesson - hah.) And best of all, I who have no children either was gifted with the opportunity to love and sacrifice for another living being, and to give up my own selfish wants for the wants of another.

Ruth and I will be okay. Though our hearts are hurting and we will miss him desperately, we are being blanketed in a warm cocoon of love and support from you: our family and friends and ward family, and it is seeing us through. The Lord promised Ruth in a blessing that the Comforter would come ... and He has. But what I never expected is that He would come through feelings of peace but ALSO through the service of all of you. We are both overwhelmed by it.

I am so glad that Brizzy enjoyed what he could right up to the end: Wednesday night he ate two hamburgers PLUS his regular dish of dog food, and Thursday morning he had an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's Peach Ice Cream (he ate EVERY BIT OF IT with gusto) PLUS he ate almost a full bowl of dog food, and on his way to the vet's office he ate a ton of peanut butter. In fact, his final acts were to let us pet him and cry over him and look at us both with big, I love-you eyes, and THEN try to finish off as much of the peanut butter as we would allow him. He ate half the bottle before Dr. Edmonds told us we'd better stop (it could have come back up when all his organs relaxed - euww). So when he crossed that rainbow bridge, it was with his very favorite taste in the whole wide world on his lips -- peanut butter.

I would like to add a quote and a poem I found which I really liked:

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace." ~Milan Kundera~

THE CREATION

When God had made the earth and sky
the flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals
the fish, the birds and bees.

And when at last He'd finished
not one was quite the same.
He said, "I'll walk this world of mine
and give each one a name."

And so He traveled far and wide
and everywhere He went,
a little creature followed Him
until its strength was spent.

When all were named upon the earth
and in the sky and sea,
the little creature said, "Dear Lord,
there's not one left for me."

Kindly the Father said to him,
"I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name back to front
and called you dog, My friend."
~Author Unknown~

Goodbye Sweet Brizzy -- I am so grateful for the knowledge I possess which teaches me that there IS a Spirit World and I will see you again. Run free -- Run fast -- and eat joyfully!

Remembering my Dad

Today is my Dad's birthday ... well, it was his birthday ... well it still IS his birthday, on this side of the Veil. In Sarah Menet's near-death experience book, "There Is No Death" (http://www.thereisnodeath.com) she talks about there being another celebration in the spirit-world: the day we cross back over when we die. She mentions what it's called but I can't remember at the moment (Ack! Brain Cell Loss strikes again). They celebrate their "rebirth" into the Spirit World like we celebrate our birth here into the Mortal World. It made me wonder if my dad now celebrates two special days: his mortal life birthday and his death-day Spirit World birthday? If so, I guess he can choose the age he wants to be: 85 years old or 1-1/2 years old. Hah! Here are a couple of pictures I scanned:


(Sorry about the big white space - I'm not a pro scanner, as you can see.)

I can't believe it's already been 1-1/2 years since my dad passed away (December 2006). Since today is his earthly birthday I've been thinking a lot about him -- missing him and wondering about how he is. That's one of the hardest things about this necessary earthly Veil -- we don't get to visit with our loved ones in the Spirit World (unless we're darn lucky). I wonder, what is he doing now? Who is he associating with? Does he spend time with my husband, Nathan and his family or with past friends and other family members? What about people he knew in this life? Does he get to spend much time with them? Is he on a mission, teaching people about the Gospel (which he so dearly wanted to do again in this life) or is he in school, learning new things? Questions ... I have sooo many questions! But I DEFINITELY don't want to go through the associated pain that would accompany a near-death experience so I'll have to content myself with waiting until it's my turn to cross over (which I have to admit I hope is a long time away - I love this earth life).

(That one picture above of Dad and his family entitled "The Musician" is during the Depression ... they traveled as a family orchestra around the West -- Dad was 5-8 years old and he played the trumpet, led the family and sang. One of my greatest regrets is that I didn't interview he or my Grandma better (and soon enough) to get quality information about this unusual experience. There were many families who did this and I should have written an article on it, during my college years.)

I've also been thinking about what a GOOD man my dad was (and is). He was never a flashy or high-profile man, but one of the Lord's "worker bees" who always did what he was asked to do, always stayed true to his values, and always stood stead-fast in the Gospel. Of course he had some negative points too ... he could be stubborn and sometimes emotionally remote. But that's okay - that's what made him human. Negatives are part of us, yes? One of the greatest things my dad taught me was to love my ancestors and be proud of my heritage. He consistently told me, "Always remember that you are a Daughter of God, and you are a Rich" (and of course Iverson & Workman & Alldredge too). My direct great-great (-great?) grandfather is Charles C. Rich and my other family lines go way back to the beginnings of the church also. It wasn't a boastful or prideful thing for my dad -- it meant that I had a heritage of good people behind me and I should live equal to my ancestors. AND I should never forget about them. I often worry about getting my act together and doing more family history work. Who is missing that needs to be linked in?

My dad was also a great example to me of courage and perseverance. He never made a lot of money and he changed careers three times: first as a barber, then as a welder, then as a full-time custodian for our church building. But there was usually enough to care for us properly and to keep ice cream in the house. OF COURSE! Who could live without ice cream?! And he LOVED the 4th of July and any celebration. He wanted birthday cakes and cards and presents and all the Christmas trimmings clear up until he wasn't able to function, and then I'll bet you anything he was longing to be a part of the celebrations even when he couldn't communicate that to us.

Dad bore his "last-years illness" with great dignity. I always thought it was terribly ironic that my dad would be so healthy his whole life (hardly even a cold) and then be hit with such a terribly debilitating illness such as PSP (Progressive supra-nuclear palsy) [http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/psp/psp.htm] ... sheesh. But even while my dad's body shut down and he moved towards immobility, he bore the whole experience with humor and grace and rarely, RARELY complained. I learned a lot watching my mom and dad go through this experience. Who knows, he may have complained loudly to himself, but I never heard it much. (I, on the other hand am a vociferous complainer - one of MY negatives.) Dad had some pretty cool guardians from the Spirit World too: during those final years he consistently saw four girls in white who would come and be nearby. He would be sitting at the dining room table and would suddenly say, "Well there go the 4 girls! They're leaving now" ... or he'd make other references out of the blue about them. I truly believe that they were assigned to help him through this experience. I can't wait to meet them and find out who they were (and say thank you). I think there were lots of family members from the Spirit World who helped my dad through his illness ... you should see some of the family pictures we've taken -- LOTS of orbs in the pictures sometimes! I'll have to find my favorite picture and post it in someday -- it's a picture my brother, Scott took one Christmas where a bunch of us were in the front room playing a board game and just laughing away. The picture is filled with orbs. It's really something.

Well I'm rambling ... and my lunch hour is over (way over). I just wanted to say that I'm so grateful for my dad, for what he taught me and for his steadfastness and surety in Gospel truths. He taught me everything I needed to bring me great happiness and put me on a good course, and I love him very much. I hope he's celebrating today in the Spirit World! And I hope he gets a HUGE cake to eat!


(My dad - surrounded by some of his sketched cartoons)