THE POSTAL SERVICE
NO ONE HEARS ABOUT
Our 14 year
old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died,
my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking
about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could
write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven,
God would re cognize her.She dictated and I wrote:
Dear God,
Will you please take special care of our dog, Abbey? She
died yesterday and is in heaven. We miss her very much.
We are happy that you let us have her as our dog even
though she got sick. I hope that you will play with her.
She liked to play with balls and swim before she got
sick. I am sending some pictures of her so that when you
see her in heaven you will know she is our special dog.
But I really do miss her.
Love,
Meredith
P.S. Mommy wrote the words after I told them to her.
We put that in an envelope with two pictures of Abbey,
and addressed it to God in Heaven. We put our return
address on it. Then Meredith stuck some stamps on the
front (because, as she said, it may take lots of stamps
to get a letter all the way to heaven) and that
afternoon I let her drop it into the letter box at the
post office. For a few days, she would ask if God had
gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.
Yesterday there was a package wrapped in gold paper on
our front porch. Curious, I went to look at it. It had a
gold star card on the front and said "To Meredith" in an
unfamiliar hand. Meredith took it in and opened it.
Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers, "When a Pet Dies".
Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had
written to God, in its opened envelope (which was marked
Return to Sender: Insufficient address). On the opposite
page, one of the pictures of Abbey was taped under the
words "For Meredith"
We turned to the back cover, and there was the other
picture of Abbey, and this handwritten note on pink
paper:
Dear Meredith,
I know that you will be happy to know that Abbey arrived
safely and soundly in Heaven! Having the pictures you
sent to me was such a big help. I recognized Abbey right
away. You know, Meredith, she isn't sick anymore. Her
spirit is here with me--just like she stays in your
heart--young and running and playing. Abbey loved being
your dog, you know. Since we don't need our bodies in
heaven, I don't have any pockets!-- so I can't keep your
beautiful letter. I am sending it to you with the
pictures so that you will have this book to keep and
remember Abbey.
One of my angels is taking care of this for me. I hope
the little book helps. Thank you for the beautiful
letter. Thank your mother for sending it. What a
wonderful mother you have! I picked her especially for
you.
