Wednesday, July 22, 2009

When I Get To Heaven....



A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.
When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'
'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered. 'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.
Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.
'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'
'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'
'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.
'There should be a bowl by the pump.'
They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it.
The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.
When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.
'This is Heaven,' he answered.
'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's hell.'
'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

12 comments:

  1. Hi! I love your blog, this story brought tears to my eyes. I have a 24yo polish arab and I would not go anywhere he would not be allowed!

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  2. I hope you don't mind but I had to post that story on my blog, I love it!
    My hubby and I have some rescue dogs that we foster for a rescue group. I loved that story. :)

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  3. Amen to that. The last words I said to my old buddy BooBoo were that he should wait for me, and that I'd come looking for him.

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  4. Great story. Hope my old poodle Ranger is waiting on the road for me when I get there...we'll look for the pump.

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  5. Love it - beautiful story!

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  6. Wow, thanks so much for posting that. Brought a smile to my face.

    "If there is a heaven, it's certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them." -Pam Brown

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  7. Mindy--what are you, my long-missing sister or something? This is one of my FAVORITE stories to tell...in fact, I think I'll tell it on the radio tomorrow morning!!!!

    And if I can find the radio station's copy of Brudda Iz's album, I'll play "Rainbow" too...just for you!

    (you can listen online: www.kser.org click "listen now", my show runs from 9 to 11am Sundays...I'll tell the story in the first hour).

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  8. oops, forgot to say that my show runs 9-11am *PACIFIC TIME* so a little later in your neck of the woods!

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  9. I love that story, I posted it several months back and it was a story that my brother had sent to me called "The Water Bowl". I am not going anywhere without my pets, dogs, cats and of course horses!
    Oh, my what a big incision!!! I hope it doesn't leave a scar, poor boy! That is a bad place to have a bump, definitely no riding for awhile. :-(
    ~Jane

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  10. Amen to that! Love your blog!! Love this story especially, cause ain't it the truth...

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~Slainte' Mhath!