Respirit--inspiration to refresh your spirit and give you courage

This is a must read for animal lovers...


A man and his dog were walking along a road. The
man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly
occurred to him that he was dead. He remembered 
dying, and that his faithful dog had been dead for 
many years. He wondered where the road was leading 
them. After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall 
along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. As
he reached the wall, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch, 
and the street that led to the gate made from pure gold. 
He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, 
he saw a man at a desk to one side.  When he was close enough, 
he called out, "Excuse me, where are we?" "This is heaven, sir," 
the man answered. "Wow! Would you happen to have some
water? We have traveled far," the man said. "Of course, sir.
Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up." 
The man gestured, and the gate began to open. "Can my friend,"
gesturing toward his dog, "come  in, too?" the traveler asked. 
"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets." The man thought 
a moment, remembering all the years this dog remained loyal
to him and then turned back toward the road and continued
the way he had been going. After another long walk he came to
a plain dirt road, which led through a farm gate that looked as 
if it had never been closed.  There was no fence. As he  
approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against 
a tree and reading a book.  "Excuse me!" he called to the reader.
 "Do you have any water? We have traveled far." "Yes, sure, 
there's a faucet over there." The man pointed to a place
that couldn't be seen from outside the gate. "Come on in 
and help yourself." "How about my friend here?" the traveler 
gestured to his dog. "There should be a bowl by the faucet; 
he is welcome to share." They went through the gate, and sure 
enough, there was an old-fashioned faucet with a bowl beside it. 
The traveler filled the bowl and took a long drink himself, then 
he gave some to the dog. When they were full, he and the dog
walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree waiting 
for them. "What do you call this place?" the traveler asked. 
"This is heaven," was the answer. "Well, that's confusing," the
traveler said. "The man down the road said that was heaven, too." 
"Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? 
Nope. That's hell." "Doesn't it make you mad for them to use 
your name like  that?"   "No. We're just happy that they screen 
out the folks  who'd leave their best friends behind in exchange
for material things."