Reply #77: Bless you and your Pug rescue friend and all the animal rescuers.

[Withywindle]

I love this story/joke:

An old man and his old dog both pass away together one night in their sleep.

They find themselves wandering a country road on a pretty day.

They come to a beautiful marble walkway that leads to a pearly gate, and an angel in a white robe comes forward and says to the man, "Welcome, faithful servant. Come in and enjoy your rest and reward." The old man looks past the gate and sees beautiful green meadows, gardens, fountains, mansions, and says, "WOW, that does look nice," and starts to walk in with his dog by his side.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," says the angel. "The dog can't come in. They don't have souls, you know."

The old man steps back as if struck and says, "Well, he's my best friend and he loved me when no one else did, so as nice as that looks, I gotta say, if he can't go in, I won't either."

They walk a little further down the road, and come to another gate. It's an old pine fence, kind of tumble-down, and the person guarding it looks a little scruffy, but he says, "Hey there friend, nice day. Wanna come in for some lemonade, and a nice chew-bone for your friend there?"

"That's more my speed," says the man. "Thank you, I don't mind if we do."

Before his eyes, the old fence changes to a gate far more magnificent than the first one, and the guardian is a far more radiant angel. "Welcome to Heaven," the angel says, inviting in both the man and the dog.

"I thought that first gate was Heaven," he said.

"No," said the angel. "That was a test. Anybody who'd sell out a loyal friend who gave you nothing but love to get into Heaven doesn't belong here."