Tilda’s 2nd Double Rainbow Appears on September 2, 2011

The Power Of Tilda”

Tilda's First Double Rainbow on Aug 30th, 2011

In the previous blog story, we discussed the wonderful appearance of a double Rainbow on August 30th, 2011, straight to the east when standing on our upper level deck and I recorded the time of the sighting at 5:05pm on that day. I speculated that this might be Tilda’s way of waving a big “hello” to all her Tilda Friends. Since that double rainbow was so special and spectacular, I stated in that story that I was sure that the rainbow is probably going to be Tilda’s sign for getting our attention from time to time, just to let us know she is with us still and watching over things.

As rare as double rainbow’s are, one would think that this rare phenomenon is over and the world moves on, but no, Tilda is obviously having a great time smiling down on all of us while she races around with our passed doggy friends and at the same time letting us know she is there and in full color. On Friday evening, September 2nd, another double rainbow appeared in the east in the same position as the previous one and Guess What?……..exactly the same time of 5:05 pm. The odds of a double rainbow appearing at the exact same minute of the day, 3 days apart, in the same location and with similar intensity is simply remarkable. I wasn’t at home when this second rainbow occurred. Tilda’s mom, Donna, was home and saw it immediately and actually she admits she was hoping for it when the short rainstorm burst began. She called me later as I was driving home and told me of the event and the time.  After I hung up the phone from Donna, I was just shaking.  This was so obvious and blatant, Tilda was waving “howdy” again.

When I arrived home, there were two phone messages on the home phone. One was from

Tilda and her cool green grass!

Stacey, one of Tilda’s Friends, saying she just left work to pick up her children and she is witnessing Tilda’s Rainbow again and it is a double rainbow as before. The second recorded message was from Jane, another of Tilda’s Friends stating that she was on her way home from work and this huge double rainbow was blasting the sky just as in the first double rainbow 3 days earlier. Both phone call recordings were time stamped within a couple minutes either side of the 5:05 pm time frame to confirm Donna’s time record. Because I was not at home, I didn’t get any pictures of it and that saddens me, but I now can’t help but to think there will be another time.  Another of Tilda’s Friends named Laura also wrote an email about that time:

 “Daryl,

Stacey just left the office and called to say that there is a double rainbow. She got your phone number from me so I hope she connected!! What I wanted to let you know is that after looking at the photo of the double rainbow and reading your blog – I would like to say that the rainbow to me is the path of Tilda’s tail wagging – back & forth like a windshield wiper. So she’s up there giving us all rainbow wags!!! What a super dog. An aside: When we ask our 7 year old daughter what her favorite color is, she says, “Rainbow.” Children & dogs – gotta love them.

Laura”

Tilda was obviously a very, very busy girl yesterday, Friday, September 2nd, 2011. I was getting emails from Tilda’s Friends citing rainbows they had never seen before, rainbows on items, rainbows on papers, rainbows on ballons, rainbows everywhere. Donna and I also received two rainbow sympathy cards in the mail recently. It is quite a sight from this chair to watch this phenomenon grow as people everywhere are looking for a sign from Tilda and getting one. That is pretty special. Here is a fun example email I received:

 

“Hi Daryl,

I have to tell you how much we were all surprised today. I have

Calendar about rainbows.

told all the front office girls about Tilda’s Rainbow and ALL of the rainbows that we are convinced are because of her. Jolene has a “Dear God” Calendar and she just changed months so it is now showing September. When she flipped it to September, she yelled “Bonijean, come here now!” When I ran to her desk, she pointed to the new picture for September. It is attached and I hope you can see it. We all looked at it and just looked at each other. WOW, The Power Of Tilda. I think this phenomenon should be called for short….T.P.O.T. You can pronounce it “teapot”. Just a suggestion. I hope it brightens your day, like it did ours….AGAIN! Thanks Tilda!

Bonijean”

The photo above shows the calendar and how precious is that! Now, we all know that calendar has been on the wall probably most of the year and that rainbow picture was there from the beginning, but how ironic that Tilda seems to tie all this together with her rainbow magic. The Power Of Tilda…..also now known as TEAPOT. How wonderful is that? Then there are wonderful and heart-warming emails like the following:

“Hi Daryl.

This morning I attended my Prayer Shawl meeting and talked about Tilda and her wonderful way of addressing people and their feelings. I can tell you that everyone was so impressed with the stories that I told of her. There were tears in many eyes as I relayed what you had written to me. Tilda, even though she is gone, is still here. She is still touching people in special ways. Isn’t that just like her? I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your writing to me and letting me know about such a wonderful pet as she was.

God bless her and you and Donna.

Sincerely, Dorothy”

Tilda’s story has touched the hearts of many people and it is so rewarding to know that many folks are having some connections with Tilda as times goes by. There is no better tribute to one’s history here on earth than to be remembered as Tilda is remembered for all the good things she had done. Tilda was a grand standing, front row – center stage kind of dog, but she wouldn’t hurt a fly and didn’t. She would run away from a housefly and not snap at them. Tilda and I were actually ON STAGE one time together at an event for the Boulder Community Hospital where we and two other dog teams walked up on stage at the old Boulder Theater to introduce Therapy Dogs to the people of Boulder.  Tilda love it and stood up there looking out into the crowd seeing all the people, but the bright lights were on us and the people were hard to see so she just kept staring out into the crowd with her flag tail wagging slowly.

Tilda had a kind soul. She would chase a squirrel if allowed, but if the squirrel stopped, Tilda stopped, game over. She would never harm anything and only wanted to play chase. She was also not afraid of anything. She would walk down the street in front of a large moving van truck and never a thought of getting out of the way. That actually happened one day when I first adopted her as I had turned my back on Tilda for a few moments while working in the yard and when I looked up, here is this large truck following Tilda down the center of the street with his bumper about 2 feet behind Tilda tooting his horn while Tilda just walk steadily forward taking her time and tail waving like it always does. Consequently, I learned that day that Tilda had to be leashed or I would have to lock the gates at the end of our lane anytime there was traffic present on our street as she never feared and never understood the threat. She was that trusting and docile all at the same time.

Donna and I have received a lot of wonderful cards, plants, wonderful mementos and

Flowers, Cards, Gifts & Mementos from Tilda's Friends

other items from people extending their prayers and best wishes to us. Some day I would love to put all this cards on Tilda’s website on a special page, but that will be a project for a rainy day way down the road. Donna and I tried to line up all the items and take a picture of them including Tilda’s vests, some leashes, pictures, etc. Tilda’s ashes are in the picture………it is the white container on top of the sewing machine, in the center, with Tilda’s pink collar around it. There is also my little green vintage clock that Tilda gave me for Father’s Day this year setting on top of the sewing machine, off towards the right. The pedal sewing machine was purchased new by Donna’s Great Grandmother in Aurora, Nebraska in 1904 and was passed down through the generations. No one used it for many, many years as parts were coming unglued and the machine was in need of serious repairs. When Donna received this machine, all the parts were still in a box and the cabinet looked like it had been through a couple wars………which it had. I spent 2 months stripping, sanding and re-gluing, then refinishing and repairing the machine back to its original state again and it is working fine today. Tilda had her stuffed toys setting on the pedal of the sewing machine. She never played with toys but enjoyed looking at them and sniffing them.

Tilda Visiting with William

I had the wonderful pleasure on Thursday, September 1st, 2011, to walk through Longmont United Hospital with my volunteer uniform on and meet some of Tilda’s dear friends. It took me a couple hours to get through the facility, but it was a lot of fun to see everyone again. But, it was a lonesome feeling and something significant was missing……my dear Tilda. Walking through those rooms and hallways, I had constant flashbacks of the wonderful times and experiences Tilda showed me there. We had a route and followed it religiously, then sometimes (not often) we would do the route backwards. Tilda knew the path and what came next, no matter which direction we went. She associated PEOPLE to her path and she knew who was in which room and where. She knew the which corner to turn, which aisle to go straight. We always played games to make the visiting venture fun rather than a chore. At some blind hallway intersections, Tilda was trained to STOP and look both ways. Then I would say to her “do you see anything coming?” and she would intently look again both ways and if there was something coming, she would just wag her tail and not move……….nothing coming, she would step forward and move on. At some hallways we would run to liven up the effort a bit so as we turned a corner into the “run” hallway, Tilda would take off and break into a trot. In one area there was an emergency bed in readiness and we always stopped by there an practiced her “paws up” command. The last few months I just tapped the bed and she would raise up and tenderly put her front paws on the bed. She knew where we stopped for a drink of water. She knew where all the treats were and where the people are that give them. She also knew who needed help with their moejoe that day as while we walked down the hallway and met a stranger, sometimes she would stop after the stranger passed, turn around and want to go back after them. One thing about Tilda, she always knew what she was there for, yet tried to be a good dog and do stuff at the same time.

She never tired of doing this. The only time she wasn’t with the program was when I

Tilda and Stacey hanging out.

sensed she may not be feeling well and then we would just quit and call it a day. I want to thank all the wonderful people at Longmont United and the people in the Longmont Medical/Surgery Center for being so kind, thoughtful and endearing. I plan to visit the other hospitals and do the same thing as it is comforting to share stories with people that cared about Tilda. I was explaining to one lady how amazed I am at how living life has its unique twists and turns. Tilda originally found me by a sheer split second thought of me turning off the street suddenly to pet a dog and stopping at the Longmont Humane Society where Tilda was in the first cage as you walked into the kennel area. When we applied to adopt Tilda, after getting to know her, they informed me we were 3rd in line for her and the others had first dibs. Donna and I went home and actually wept as we wanted that Tilda Dog so bad as she was perfect for us. With 3 people ahead for a wonderfully kind dog like Tilda, fat chance we would ever see Tilda again. Two days later the phone rang asking if we were still interested in Tilda as all the rest of the folks in line for her declined. Obviously, I now know all about “THE POWER OF TILDA” and she pulled that one off masterfully. Donna and I have always joked between us in front of Tilda that she must have gone to the front desk and told them to call the other people and inform them she wouldn’t be available as she wanted to go home with the “old folks”.

Now I look back at that day, in honor of Tilda, and think to myself how one, just one, tiny, fleeting moment of me suddenly turning right into the parking lot of the Humane Society while cruising down the street headed for another destination………….how that has affected my life and ended up affecting literally hundreds of other people. I would have never been introduced to the wonderment of volunteering at the hospitals if it weren’t for Tilda.  One cannot help but think that there was a purpose to all this. Well, I think Tilda had a purpose to all this and she achieved it in a manner none of us will ever forget. The best part of it everything was that this was ALL GOOD and contained the love and affection that binds people together for a very long time, maybe forever and beyond. Thank you, Tilda!

Until Next Time!

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