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 the dog had been dead for 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. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a
tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it, he saw
a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother of pearl, and the
street that led to the gate looked like 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?" the man asked. "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. Gesturing
toward his dog the traveler inquired "Can my friend come in, too?"
"I'm
sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets."
The
man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the
way he had been going. After another long walk, and at the top of
another long hill, he came to a 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?" "Yeah, sure, there's a
pump over there" The man pointed to a place that couldn't be seen from
outside the gate. "Come on in."
"How about my friend here?" the
traveler gestured to the dog.
"There
should be a bowl by the pump."
They
went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old fashioned hand pump
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.
I can see how you might think so, but we're just happy that they screen out
the folks who'll leave their best friends behind."
This
was sent to TheDogPlace by a very good friend of many years. The post
script read:
Sometimes,
we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us without writing a word,
maybe this could explain:
"When
you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do -- you
forward jokes.
When
you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.
When you have something to say, but
don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes."
And
to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still important, you
are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke
from me.
So
my friend, next time if you get a joke, don't think that I have sent you just
a joke, but that I have thought of you today and wanted to send you a smile.
Please
send this to a friend because, like me, they will smile and realize how very
dear you are to them. Thanks Dave, this was too good not to share.
