Dear Kelley,

I have say, when Hobbes brought me this mornings assignments I was
overwhelmed when I found that it was not one, but two very well-loved
and extremely handsome DEW's coming our way. I carefully read though
all of the paperwork, noting which family members are here and needed
to be gathered up, what could be the potential want and needs of those
arriving, and of course, the important need to convey Sammy and Bear's
safe arrival here.

I also knew that I needed to find one other fuzzit that would be
instrumental in greeting of these two, and that was none other then my
baby sister Autumn. Autumn was only six months old when she arrived
here at the Bridge. It was hard on our mum, but she knew Autumn would
be in good paws with everyone up here, and mum also knew ..... and what
we would ALL find out the hard way, was that our little Miss Autumn was
an extremely independent young lady who would stand for no babying from
anyone, not even me! This lovely cinnamon gal of the soft pink nose
arrived in a warm shower of hugs and kisses and even before the paw
print was dry on her paper work, she insisted on talking with the Big
Guy right away.

I am not sure how that conversation went, but fur kids working in the
office that day are *still* talking about it! She was A-mazing, she
went right up to Him and said that she wanted her *own* room and that
*said* room was to be filled to the brim with an wide assortment of
plushies for this stuffed animal connoisseur!

And got just what she asked for too!!!!

It took some time finding her though, because when I opened up the
door to her room I couldn't see her right away. I called out and in
return all I heard this muffled, "Obbbbbierrrr 'errrrre....eeesta
'inutttteee!"

I had no idea what it meant, so I simply called out, "MARCO!", and kept
listening for what I believed was her version of polo until I found
her. SoOoooOoo it took me about five minutes, but I found her. more
correctly, her bum sticking out of the top this HUGE mound of stuffed
thingies and she was grousing and grumbling about something and the
next thing I knew she came flying out bass-ackwards, and looking so
much like my favourite cartoon hero, Secret Squirrel! Then we were
both tumbling down, head over paw, bum over tea kettle, to the bottom
of the pile and she was giggling with glee the whole time too!

"I found him, I found Franz!!", and she began dancing around holding
onto this large, big-headed stuffed German Sheppard. "I just knew he
was in there, I just KNEW it!!!!", and then stopped, looked directly at
me and before speaking she did this very Autumn like thing, and tilted
that beautiful, delicate face ever so slightly to the right and asked
me what I was doing there.

"Well, it's like this sweetie. We have new arrivals coming in and one
of them is a stuffed animal fiend, much like yourself, so I figured,
maybe you wouldn't mind sharing your room with him and his brother
Bear." and, as I said that to her, I leaned over and showed her their
pictures. "These guys were really well loved. They had a great home and
a mum who loved them every bit as much as ours did. The thing is they
were so darn close to one and another that when Bear passed away, Sammy
couldn't be with out him and so he followed a few days later. Their mum
is really sad and needs to know that not only did they get here safely,
but that they have a most wonderful place to sleep and cuddle with and,
of course, a place to stash all of Sammy's stuffed animals and I
thought, well why not here?"

She took their photo's from me and carefully looked them over, "Gosh
Pie, they look likes Tisha, they's all white and handsome like him!",
then she abruptly got up and walked over to one of her many toy boxes
and pulled out this old, green canvas bag and began picking through
her collection, and cramming them into the bag.

"What are you doing Girl-Curl?", I politely asked.

And with a deep, and very girlish sigh she looked directly at me and
said, "Putting together a welcoming package you silly fuzz! Don't youse
know anything?" ...... so being the ever patient big brother that I am,
I stood there and waited for her to finish ......... what esle could I
do?

So it's a good thing that I had sent Hobbes along to gather up the rest
of the welcoming party!!

We all arrived at the Bridge in the early evening. Twilight was
beginning to fade into night time and the sky was filled with tranquil
pinks, and muted oranges, and a subtle hint of what was once golden and
very warm. We could also see a smattering of stars beginning to twinkle
in the east, and as Hobbes set about handing out lanterns filled with
fireflys, we prepared ourselves for Bear and Sammy's arrival.

We waited for maybe a few brief moments before we saw the Bridge
beginning to glow this dreamy, turquoise blue, and a low lying mist
began to gracefully spill forward and then in the midst of all of this
came these two really, handsome and charming dark-eyed whites. In
between these two they held this rather large box and it seemed kind of
ungainly, so I sat my latern down and walked over to help them. I guess
we all had the same thought though, because even before I could get
there, Hershey, Ben, Jerri and Oscar made it there and managed the box
over to our side, and as it was set down, well really, even before it
met the ground, I saw Bear running off into the waiting arms of Bailey.
I could hear him asking him if he was ok, and his soothing reply of yes
that he was, and how happy he was to see Bear.

"Momma told us you were here, she said you would be waiting, that you
all would be waiting and she was right. Oh Bailey I am so happy to see
you!", said Bear, and before he could reply, Sammy came running up and
hugged him so tightly we could all hear him squeak with sudden joy and
just as sudden relief when he at last let go. We fuzz give good hugs
mind you!

It really was such a magical site seeing those three together. I know
that Bailey had Felix and Justin and the others here to be of comfort,
but when you live your life, sharing it as closely as Bear, Sammy and
Bailey did, it always is such a relief when you are reunited once
again.

I remember Bailey asking what took them so long to get here, he has
known that Bear had passed before Sammy, and so he had expected to find
Bear here already. Bear smiled at Bailey and told him that he knew
Sammy was coming, could *feel* it in his heart, and he as much as he
wanted to come and be there for Bailey, he knew he needed to stay right
where he was and not only wait for Sammy, but more importantly, to
watch over Momma and make sure that she was ok.

"I know that leaving was going to be hard for her, but I also knew that
Sammy and I couldn't be without one and another, so I waited. Oh we had
such a good life, such a fun and wonderful life, and even though I got
sick a lot as a kit, Momma never, ever gave up on me. It's so amazing
because when you are loved *that* much, it can make all the difference
in the world, I know it did for me, because I was granted five of the
best years a ferret could ever have and I had the best Momma ever!"

Bailey just hugged him and said, "We ALL had the best Momma ever Sammy.
You, me, Bear, Hershey, Casper, Ben, Jerri, Oscar, Felix and Justin.
Now we need to watch over her and Princess, Daisy, Bandit and Poncho,
because they also deserve the very best as well! So that is what we are
all going to do ok?"

"And tell her we love her EVERYDAY!" piped in Justin

And there was much nodding in agreement, and then Bear asked if he
could at least visit from time to time so he could show Bandit or maybe
even Poncho how to "guilt trip" Momma, because he felt she would love
to have a reminder of him, and Sammy said he was certain he may have
left behind of one his favourite stuffed animals, but that he did it on
purpose, because he wanted a part of him to always be there for her. I
went to mention something about the Viewing pool, but even before I
did, I heard the tiny voice of my baby sister telling them all about
the Pool and how they would always be able to see what their Momma and
the others were doing, simply by whispering their names into it.

So one by one, we picked up our laterns and we helped carry that big
ole box of Sammy's stuffed animals, and we made our way to the Viewing
Pool, and as we left, Autumn began singing and those who have been here
long enough sang along as well. It is as much for us as it is to let
those we have temporary left behind, that we are here, and we are safe,
and we are made whole, and that nothing but goodness will follow us
where ever we go. That and our family and friends will always be with
us, in our hearts. I have said to before and I will say it again, we
are but one door away from heaven, one door away from you, and one day,
when your times arrives, that door will appear, and we will be waiting
there, all of us, hand in paw with this everlasting love as a welcoming
gift.

Autumns song, like most we sing, come from people whose hearts must
be soft and fuzzy, and while we may change the words to suit the
occassion, it is only because our mere words can not always convey
the depth of love we have for all of our fuzzy parents, caretakers
and shelter mum's and dads.


"I see a light in the sky, oh, it's almost blinding me, I can't
believe, I've been touched by ferret angels with love.
Let the rain come down and wash away our tears, let it fill our souls
and drown our fears, let it shatter the walls for a new, new sun
A new day has...come at the Bridge."

"Where it was dark, now there's two new lights, where there was pain,
now there's much to enjoy, where there was weakness, we have all found
our strength
All in the eyes of you we love best."

Thank you Kelley for asking me to greet these wonderful boys, it was
such a honour to be there for the both of them, for all of them really.

In Love & In Comfort,
Pie O' Pah

[Posted in FML 6059]