The HIstory of the Rainbow Bridge Story
April 7, 2026
Because the Grief Is Real
Candilee Jackson
Introduction
We’ve all been there. We’ve buried friends, family, and somehow, the burying of pets is just as difficult a path to traverse as when those humans we love pass to the other side.
On December 2, 2025, my handsome fourteen-year-old natural solid Tonkinese, Rembrandt, stopped eating and wouldn’t let me syringe-feed him. That morning he had woken me, and in a Tonk voice I’ve learned to recognize over twenty-five years of breeding, Rembrandt let me know it was time for him to meet Cat Dad and Bronwyn at Rainbow Bridge. I cried, he hugged me, and kissed my nose just before he went over. Fly free, my beautiful baby boy!
At this time of my life, I had buried my grandparents, my parents, too many friends to count, and just a few years ago, I buried my beloved husband. We become attached to people through familial bonds and the bonds of agape and eros, but there’s a special love – the love between human and pet. Our pets do not judge: they wait, watch, and listen, and instinctively know exactly when we need them. Our pets occupy our entire hearts and minds, and losing them is almost like an amputation. Yes, the grief is real. And we, simple humans that we are, have a beautiful coping mechanism lovingly referred to as “Rainbow Bridge.”
Rainbow Bridge by Edna Clyne-Rekhy 2
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who have been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly, he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together …2
A Little History, If You Please!
To set the scene properly, we must time-travel to 1959 and the heather-filled highlands of Scotland, where nineteen-year-old Edna Clyne, “a Scottish artist and animal lover, wrote a poem to commemorate her beloved Labrador, Major’s passing. Heartbroken at the time, she had no idea that the poem had brought comfort to so many others after penning it more than six decades earlier.”3
Enter Dr. Paul Koudounaris, “an author, art historian, cat owner and foster caregiver.” If not for his dedication and research, the animal-loving populations around the globe would still be wondering as to the poem’s “true authorship, and the woman behind it would have gone to her grave, never realizing the reach and impact the ode attained since writing it all those years ago.”3
Once the author was unmasked in 2023, Edna was shy at first about sharing something so deeply personal and had tucked the poem away for safekeeping. At her husband’s insistence, Edna typed a few copies for her closest friends who had felt the deep loss of a beloved furry family member. “None of them, Edna included, ever imagined the impact and range it would ultimately have. Now, as Edna excitedly put it, ‘Every vet in Britain has it!’”3
Rainbow Bridge Is More Than Just a Story1
Edna’s heartfelt words created a beautiful, peaceful meadow with a babbling stream, shaded by huge oaks and maples, where spring flowers – buzzing with bees and butterflies – floated on a breeze. This mystical, magical place was set aside to welcome animals as they transitioned from the real world to the spirit world of Heaven, where they were infused with good health and could joyfully play in the lush gardens until their earthly families joined them later.
“What began as a teenager’s private grief over her first dog evolved into a universal symbol of hope. The poem gained widespread popularity after Dear Abby published it in 1994, spreading through veterinary offices and online communities.”1
Why We Animal Lovers Need Rainbow Bridge
The simple words of the Rainbow Bridge poem have given comfort to millions of grieving families worldwide, and “it sparks an enduring question: does it matter if the Rainbow Bridge is real, or is its power found in our need for it to exist?”1
The Rainbow Bridge has been so successful because it’s malleable, adapted by people from all belief systems to fill a pet-sized grief gap.
Unlike human death, which receives social recognition, pet loss often goes unacknowledged by society.
The Rainbow Bridge validates the depth of our animal relationships.
Research shows the concept appeals even to atheists, suggesting its power lies beyond literal religious belief.
For many, it provides what grief counselors call an emotional anchor—something concrete for the mind to grasp during abstract pain.1
How Rainbow Bridge Aids the Grieving
Pet grief is REAL. The tears are REAL. The empty pet bed IS empty, just like the hole in our hearts is both REAL and EMPTY. The beauty of the poem, and (depending on where and who publishes it) the gorgeous artwork gives us grace, security, and love as we create in our own minds the path over the bridge taken by our pets. The ability to close our eyes, breathe the scent of flowers deeply, feel the breeze, and watch the transformation of our cat, dog, or other pet as they leap in joy, completely young again and healthy, free from pain and old age, is the gift given through Edna’s words of comfort. “Pet grief therapists note that the Rainbow Bridge offers a way to maintain an ongoing relationship with a deceased pet. Perhaps the more important question is whether it serves the grieving heart, providing hope that transcends the sorrow of parting.”1
Finding Your Rainbow Bridge
And what better way to soothe a complicated wound than with a little magical salve like the Rainbow Bridge … and the bridge can be anything you desire it to be. For this writer, the ashes of my beloved Tonkinese rest beneath newly planted trees with a small stone marker for his name at the base of the tree. Your personal view of the bridge may only be in your heart and mind.
Many people have wondered if there really IS a place called Rainbow Bridge, or if it simply remains in our hearts. For some, pet cemeteries are their “bridge,” and a quick Google search can locate those in your area. Folks living in Vermont can visit “Dog Mountain, a spot in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where there is a chapel full of tributes to people’s departed pups.”3
Incidentally, there really IS a Rainbow Bridge! Located in Torrington, Connecticut, the community came together to create Rainbow Bridge, a project embraced by the local community where people can leave their tributes to their pets. “It exists in the form of this very real structure in Connecticut, or in any tangible memorial we choose to make for the ones we miss, like a simple clay imprint of their paw print that we can keep forever.”3
And a Final Thought
Edna Clyne-Rekhy, now in her eighties,3 still finds it surprising when called the world’s greatest expert on animal mourning. Edna gave us an everlasting mind’s eye view of our beloved companions fully restored and joyful, waiting patiently for us to join them at the bridge for hours of play, snuggles, purrs, scritches, and headbutts.
The Rainbow Bridge might be real, or perhaps simply be real enough. In grief, sometimes that’s the same thing.
References
- n.d. “Is the Rainbow Bridge More Than Just a Story?” The Animal Cave. Accessed November 21, 2025. https://theanimalcave.com/rainbow-bridge-story/.
- 2025. “The Rainbow Bridge Poem (printable).” The Clever Heart. June 04. Accessed February 24, 2026. https://thecleverheart.com/the-rainbow-bridge-poem-printable/.
- Weaver, Hilary. 2025. “Why People Say Pets Cross the “Rainbow Bridge” When They Die-And How It Helps.” Kinship. March 26. Accessed November 21, 2025. https://www.kinship.com/pet-lifestyle/history-of-the-rainbow-bridge.
- 4.West, Rebecca. 2024. “The Surprising Story of the Rainbow Bridge Poem.”