Beyond the Rainbow

When I was a baby, we lived in the country in a farmhouse. In addition to me, Mamma, Daddy, Grandma, Gramps, and all our animals lived here. Although I have little memory of our home, there are visions, sounds, and smells that I can remember. It was a happy place, and there was a peace that I cannot explain. There always seemed to be laughter or singing or happy conversation. There was one smell that I will never forget. It is the smell of roses. I miss this smell and what it means to me. Grandma once told me that my mother had a beautiful rose garden. She said that Mamma loved flowers and that she had a green thumb. It took me a long time to understand about the green thumb. I was happy that she loved her flowers, but I was concerned about her thumb. I was relieved when I learned that it did not really turn green.

My grandparents and I moved to the city after my parents died. The farmhouse was sold, along with most of what we owned. Everything seemed to change after that. The sounds changed very quickly from laughter, singing, and conversation to sadness, tears, and an unbearable silence. Although my grandparents thought I was too young to feel any pain, I not only felt my pain, but I could feel theirs too. I heard Grandma and Gramps talk about the accident once when they did not think I was listening. They said it was a miracle that I was still alive. Daddy saved me first. When it came time for Mamma, it was too late. It was also too late for Daddy. I wondered what would have happened if he had not saved me first. Sometimes I wish I had not been left behind. When I got a little older, Gramps must have read my mind. He told me that I was “a gift from heaven.” He said that I was the fruit from Mamma and Daddy and left behind as a blessing to others.

It was just the three of us—Grandma, Gramps, and me—for a long while. Then an addition was made to our family. I remember it as one of the happiest days of my life. It was the day that MoJo arrived. I found him in such an odd way. His mother was a stray dog in the neighborhood. She was going to have puppies. I would check on her every day to see if she was all right. I would spend more time than usual outdoors, hoping that I would be able to see her. I would sneak her food. After I began giving her food, she warmed up to me. She even started to watch for me to see what I would bring her next. Before long, I was able to pet her without her being afraid.

One day after school, I went looking for her. She was not in her normal places. I found her in the back alley. She was giving birth to her puppies. I watched from a distance. There was a young woman, whom I had seen before, standing near her. The woman was watching over them. She had a shoe box and a towel with her as she witnessed each of the puppies being born. I was at the far end of the alley, and I quietly got a little closer so that I could see better.

Before long, there were three puppies. When I saw the puppies, I remember thinking how cool it was that they seemed to be wrapped like gifts. They were born in a clear-fluid sac. The mother took two of the puppies, which were moving all around, out of their sac. I was so excited that I could feel my heart pound. I was seeing new life before my very eyes. Then my eyes focused on the third puppy. This one was not moving. The mother took this puppy out of the sac, but it still did not move. The mother dog pushed this puppy away from the others with her nose. She must have sensed that the puppy was dead. The young woman quickly scooped up the two moving puppies and placed them in the towel and then in the shoe box. The mother dog barked, and the woman gave her some dry food from her pocket. She mumbled something about going to an animal shelter to take them someplace safe. She picked up the mother dog with her free hand and left with her and two of the puppies.

I walked toward the third, lifeless puppy that was left behind. It was lying there all alone. I remember thinking my heart was going to break. It was a feeling that I had felt before. The tears began to roll down my face. If there was a time to believe in God again, I knew it was now. I remembered the God that I had heard about in the Bible stories. He had done so many impossible things. I wondered if He could help with this situation. I cried, “God, please let this poor little puppy live.”

All of a sudden, a man I had never seen before appeared walking up the alley. He went over to the puppy, knelt down, picked up the puppy, and held it close to his face. He began to blow air toward the puppy’s mouth and nose. It seemed like he did this forever without anything happening, but then the puppy started to breathe. It was alive! It began to move around like the other puppies had done. I stopped crying and felt such happiness that I thought my heart would leap out of my chest.

The man took his hat off of his head, placed the puppy in it, and handed it over to me. He smiled at me, and his eyes twinkled. I will never forget his eyes or his face. His face almost had a glow to it. I could feel—actually feel—the goodness coming from the man. He slowly walked away without a word being spoken, and then he was gone. I now had a puppy hand delivered to me in a hat, from a man that came out of nowhere and returned to nowhere. Yes, I thought, God is capable of doing the impossible.