Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day and Friendly Fill-Ins

We're sure most or all of you already know that today is Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, initiated by Deborah Barnes of Zee & Zoey in 2015. We hope you all don't mind if we share the same Rainbow Bridge post that we shared last year, but these words all still ring true.

On days like today, I do my best to not dwell on the sadness of having lost furry, feathered, and other friends who have gained their angel wings. Rather, I try to focus on the wonderful memories all of my angels have gifted me throughout the years. I am lucky to have shared my entire life with furry friends, feathered friends, and even friends of the aquatic sort. Needless to say, the memories are many.

Today, I remember my dear angel Rosie, who was my beautiful calico companion for 21 years.

I most certainly also remember Rosie's angel brother, that being the handsome and sweet tuxedo Sammy. I remember my angelic childhood pups, Banjo and Shellie, who would play with me and entertain me for hours on end. I remember my childhood feathered friends, Pippin, Robin, and Sweetpea. And of course I also remember my aquatic angels, such as Lieutenant Legs and Oscar.

Though I sometimes cannot help but feel sadness that some of my dearest friends have made the journey to the Rainbow Bridge, I will forever be grateful for the unconditional love and memories they gifted me. I will forever remember them. I will forever love them.

We are thinking of all of you who are remembering your sweet angels today and every day. Purrs, woofs, and prayers to you all.

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In addition to Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, we also have our usual Friendly Fill-Ins challenge today. If you'd like to join us but missed the fill-in statements yesterday, we'll share them again here. Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. _________ is a privilege.

2. I was so embarrassed when _________.

3. I can't help but smile when _________.

4. _________ has gotten out of hand.

My answers are below in bold, and they are accompanied by their usual, long-winded explanations.

1. Clean water is a privilege.

(I recently saw footage of water sources in certain areas of Africa and certain other regions of the world, and it made me realize how something as simple as clean water can be a privilege. When we need a drink, we don't have to travel with buckets to a water source filled with bugs and bacteria. We just turn on a faucet or grab a water bottle. Not everyone is so lucky.)

2. I was so embarrassed when Astrid caused a woman to fall down in the lobby of our veterinary clinic.

(Astrid did not knock this woman down herself. Astrid didn't even touch the lady. Rather, Astrid barked at this woman's dog. This dog had been acting very calmly, but thanks to Astrid, the dog quickly got incredibly stirred up. This was all because Astrid does not like her own species and is sometimes quite loud about her anti-dog professions. Anyway, the woman's dog ultimately tried to run toward Astrid and thereby pulled its owner to the ground. I felt horrible, and embarrassed, because Astrid had started the whole interaction by barking and just plain being rude. This actually happened a while back, and though Astrid has gotten much better behaviorally thanks to age and training, I still feel embarrassed and bad when I remember that poor woman falling all because Astrid got her dog worked up.)

3. I can't help but smile when I see a furry friend.

(Whether I see one of my own furbabies while at home, whether I see a furry friend while out and about, whether I see a family member or friend's furbaby in person or in a photo, I can't help but smile. All the furry friends in my life never fail to make me smile. I don't even have to know the kitty or pup. Seeing a cat or dog I don't even know is often all I need to improve my mood.) 

4. Eddy's fishy treat addiction has gotten out of hand.

(Eddy prefers to live in my bedroom, so she's almost always in there. These days, I cannot enter my bedroom without Eddy loudly demanding treats from the stash I keep in there. Eddy used to refuse every single treat I offered her. Then, one day, I ordered chicken treats online for the other cats, I was instead accidentally sent fishy treats I had never before purchased, I decided to keep them and to give them to my kitties, and in that way I discovered that Eddy loves that one brand's fishy flavor of treats. Now Eddy is addicted to them, I always have to have them on hand for her, and she literally screams her head off demanding them every time I go in my bedroom. I've created a monster.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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Eddy shared some bloopers on Wednesday for Mudpie and Melissa's Pet Photo Fails! Blog Hop, but she figured you might still like your Friday fix of her. So, she thought she'd share a flashback, of course starring her adorable snaggletooth.

Happy Friday to all!

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Did you know?

How about a little Rainbow Bridge trivia we shared on this same day last year? Did you know that the concept of the Rainbow Bridge not only stems back to poems from the 1980s and 1990s, but also way back to Norse mythology? In Norse mythology, there is a flaming rainbow bridge called Bifrӧst. It is said in the myths that the Bifrӧst rainbow bridge spanned from Midgard (Earth) to Asgard (the land of the gods). This is somewhat similar to the concept of the Rainbow Bridge pet owners know these days, so perhaps the poetry and other stories surrounding it were in part inspired by Norse mythology.