For anyone who has loved an animal deeply, goodbye rarely feels like a single moment. It continues in the empty bed, the untouched bowl, the quiet doorway and the instinct to listen for familiar paws that will not come.
Susan Jaunsen’s Those We Meet at the Rainbow Bridge speaks directly to that ache. Through personal memories, rescue stories, poetry, spiritual reflection and imagined reunions, the book offers grieving pet parents a comforting possibility: the animals we love may leave our sight, but the bond itself does not disappear.
The book presents the Rainbow Bridge as a peaceful place where animals are restored to health and freed from pain. Those who were old become energetic again. Those who suffered are made whole. They run, play and wait in beautiful meadows until the day they can be reunited with the people who loved them.
This vision becomes especially meaningful through the many animals Jaunsen remembers. Readers meet Beatrice and Bonnie, two Netherland Dwarf rabbits rescued after being left outside in a rain-soaked enclosure. Clarence, a neglected cockatoo, represents the hope of recovery after fear and isolation. Siam, Smokey, Mischief, Chloe, Shadow, Little Boy, Oliver and other cats appear through stories of feeding, humane trapping, veterinary care, adoption and loss.
Each animal is remembered as an individual, with habits, personality and a unique place in the author’s heart. That attention to detail reflects something pet parents understand well: grief is not only about missing an animal. It is about missing a particular companion the way they greeted us, rested beside us, demanded dinner or seemed to know when we needed comfort.
At the center of the book is Willow, Jaunsen’s beloved grey-and-white cat. Willow was her closest animal companion. He followed her through the house, greeted her when she returned, rested with her during quiet naps and stayed close when she was in pain. Jaunsen cared for many animals, but Willow, she reflects, cared for her.
When Willow dies suddenly after a serious medical emergency, the loss is devastating. Later, following a car accident, Jaunsen experiences a journey to the Rainbow Bridge. There, she is reunited with many animals she once loved and helped. The reunion is filled with warmth and joy, yet one companion is missing.
Where is Willow?
After she returns to life, Jaunsen begins sensing his presence beside her. She feels the mattress dip, the blankets shift and the familiar rhythm of paws kneading near her. To her, Willow has stayed because she still needs comfort.
Eventually, she understands that love must sometimes release what it most wants to hold. She tells Willow that she will be all right and that the others are waiting for him. In the book’s spiritual vision, he finally crosses the Bridge not away from her, but ahead.
Those We Meet at the Rainbow Bridge does not dismiss the pain of pet loss or offer easy answers. Instead, it honors grief as evidence of a meaningful relationship.
For grieving pet parents, Susan Jaunsen’s message is gentle and hopeful: goodbye may not be the end. It may simply mean, “Until we meet again.”
