***Passing Of Hercules Part-04

On the day that it was time for Hercules to walk across the Rainbow Bridge for good, it saddened my heart. It was, I believe, 2003 on Good Friday. I’d gone down to let him out of his special cage. He wasn’t on top of his perch. He had a beautiful platform that he would lay on and watch TV and hug his beloved ALF. He was underneath it.

As I looked down, I saw that there was blood coming from his paw. I said, “Hercules, are you okay?” He said, “Mom, my head hurts. It hurts so bad that I tried to comfort myself by sucking my paw and it always brought me comfort, but the pain was so bad that I bit through my paw and I’m hurting. I’m hurting.”

I cried and called the vet. The vet came out and said, “My dear, it is time for you to make the decision to let your beautiful beloved Hercules go, and I must also tell you that I cannot be the one that gives him the shot that takes him across the Rainbow Bridge. You’ll have to do that, for even though, he is hurt, he has something wrong with his brain. It is hurting and he may try to attack me”

It is the humane thing to do that many animals love us so unconditionally they will stay in a body that is painful, that causes them pain so they won’t leave us, because they know when they leave, we will cry and miss them, so they will stay in a body that makes them painful just so they don’t let us down.

As I went downstairs, Hercules knew this. As he and I are so in tune, he always felt my emotions. He heard my thoughts. He knew all about me, so he knew what was coming, which was even harder for me.

I put on my meditation music, as I had done when we had meditated many times. On that day, it was a Good Friday, and I thought, “How flirtatious that Hercules is going to go into the heavenly realm and across the bridge on a Good Friday, a spiritual day.”

I went downstairs and I put on our favorite meditation music, the music that he and I had meditated to for 13 years every morning when we started our meditation and prayer. He tried to crawl over to me, and he put his paw in mine.

Tears were streaming down my eyes. I sang to him songs. He and I had always sung songs. I sang to him, “I love you,” the Barney Song, all the songs that I had sang to him since he was a little cub, a beautiful little child, just like I did when my daughter passed. I sang her songs to help her transition to the other side.

Have a very blessed day now.

Carrie Carter