This message is from: "linda hickam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Oh my gosh......thankyou for reminding me "Beautiful Joe".There's alot of childhood memories I lost. When I was 16, my 16.3hh horse fell on top of me and was cast against the indoor ring wall.I was in a coma for 3 weeks.That was almost 30 years ago and believe me I'm not the sharpest tack in the drawer. Being reminded of things that I did when I was a kid is really cool!!!......thanks...Linda
---------- >From: "Cheryl Beillard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Re: Beautiful Joe - Skip if you don't like sentimental stories .. >Date: Tue, Dec 21, 1999, 1:20 AM > >This message is from: "Cheryl Beillard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >Reading the Rainbow Bridge reminded me of perhaps the most important book I >read, as a child, which I realized in my forties was probably the most >formative influence on my life .. Some of you may have read "Beautiful Joe", >a story written by Marshall Saunders (a woman!) who was the daughter of the >Premier of Nova Scotia (Are you listening BDF?) .. it was a dog story, >written in 1934 (although I'm not sure there wasn't an earlier edition) >about a puppy horribly mutilated by a milkman, who also abused his horses >(see -- it is relevant!) , but was rescued by "Miss Laura", and taken to >live in a household full of animals of all kinds who were treated with all >the love and respect any pet could wish for ... Like Black Beauty, >Beautiful Joe was a pivotal book and is credited with providing the impetus >for establishment of the humane society in Canada .. It's dedicated, in >fact, to the American society .. It sold 7 million copies by 1949, and that >was a record, I gather, for the era. There really was a dog who provided >the inspiration for the story -- a revelation to me, and he lived through >many of the experiences described in the town of Meaford in Ontario, not far >from Georgian Bay. I found his grave, which is maintained in a park near >the house in which he lived, to this day, a couple of years ago on the way >to Tobermory and Manitoulin Island. > >The point of all this is that there was a SEQUEL to BJ, "Beautiful Joe's >Paradise", which I always wonder how many others read .. It began with a >child crying over his dog who had died, and refusing to part with the body >and falling asleep, cradling his pet.. in his dream? an "airship" arrives, >with animals steering it who are charged with taking the "real" body of the >dog, containing his soul, away from his young master, and replacing it with >a facsimile. The boy refuses to release his beloved pet and begs to >accompany him on his journey, just for a short time to make sure he's >alright. So he does, and encounters an island somewhere in the heavens, >which is populated by animals of all types, some good, some reformed, some >who "slip" now and then, into meanness, but all of the domesticated animals >are waiting the "arrival", some day, of the owners they worshipped. >Beautiful Joe, who learned so much compassion through suffering in his own >life, is "President" and exerts a gentle rule, smoothing over minor disputes >and helping others to grow in spirit (so they are ultimately worthy of >joining their owners in human heaven). The animals have a sort of telegraph >system (birdsong) which keeps tabs on events in their humans' lives and when >one of their owners dies, a more beautiful, glowing airship arrives on the >island to transport the dog/cat, whatever, to whatever place constitutes >human heaven. A lot of resonance, in terms of the Rainbow Bridge. I cried >buckets. > >It didn't hit me, till I was reminded of the story, as an adult, with >teenagers, that many of my most deeply held feelings and views about life >and mortality had been shaped by that book, given to me at the age of 7, by >my mother .. I'm sure she would have been aghast at the picture of "heaven" >that I absorbed and internalized, not at all consistent with the church of >england views that she held. I'm not sure how many religious views there >are which "allow" animals to enter heaven .. but it certainly has to be an >element for me, or it just won't measure up! > >Once I had "remembered" the book, I set about finding a copy and after a >year or two, succeeded. Sad to report that it doesn't translate all that >well, either into the 90s or into adulthood. But it sure sustained me >through a lot of partings from pets of all kinds. And probably still does, >although I'm not sure how far I can push it! > > > >
