All Dogs (and Cats) Go to Heaven

I remember, when I was about 12 years old, having a question and answer session with my parents one evening while driving to the boardwalk on family vacation. I don’t remember all the questions we asked, but some were rather profound and complicated. I do remember asking if our pets went to heaven. My parents suggested we ask our pastor. As distinctly as I remember the dark summer sky filled with sparkling stars, I also remember standing in the stuffy foyer of our tiny church and posing my question to our pastor. And, I also remember how crushed his answer made me feel. “Nothing, according to the Bible, indicates that there will be any animals in heaven,” the pastor responded to my inquiry. I remember feeling the hot rush of tears spring to my eyes and how the stuffy room suddenly felt unbearable. I wanted to protest, “But, didn’t God make the animals too? Why would he abandon them, soulless and dead?” But, twelve year old me simply muttered a defeated thank you and shuffled out the door. Since then, I have decided I don’t really care if there is no evidence in the Bible, I choose to believe our special pets will meet us in heaven in some form or another. They might not have souls like human beings, but they are still deserving of an afterlife because surely anyone who has looked into the eyes of their beloved pet knows they feel love. Last Monday we had to say good-bye to our sweet kitty Pookie. As Primero and I wept together in the vet’s office, I hoped we would see Pookie once again in the great beyond.

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