Coping With the Death of a Pet:
The Rainbow Bridge: Norse Legends, Lost Pets and Natural Parks When our family dog, Ella, had a stroke she didn't magically disappear and reappear a few weeks later as a puppy. She died on a sidewalk at 8 pm during a busy weekend in Ocean Beach, Fire Island. There was no way to cover up that she had passed on. She did so right in front of my son. It was horrible and uplifting all in the same moment. My husband and I had to make quick decisions because the vet was off island and we had to bury her in my mother-in-law's yard that night. The police grabbed table clothes from nearby restaurants and got a trolley to wheel our dog to our house. My children and I followed behind while people shielded their own children from the site of our beloved Ella. My children were beside us when we wrapped her in the cloth and put her in the ground. My children got flowers from the neighbors and we walked to the beach and threw flowers into the ocean waves lighted by a full moon.