Dear Lord, please open your gates and call St. Francis to come escort this beloved companion across the Rainbow Bridge.

Assign her to a place of honor,  for she has been a faithful servant and has always done her best to please me.

Grant me the strength not to dwell on my loss. Help me remember the details of her life with the love she has shown me.  And grant me the courage to honor her by sharing those memories with others.

Let her remember me as well and let her know that I will always love her. And when it's my time to pass over into your paradise, please allow her to accompany those who will bring me home.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of her companionship and for the time we've had together.

Amen.

Excerpts from poem by - © Brandy Duckworth, 1998