COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | MAY 27, 2021 | 3A
Pet Tips‘n’ Tales: Mr. Bean’s Best Friend Herb
By Mary Ellen
“Angel Scribe”
When Mr. Bean’s best
friend Herb passed; he at-
tended the funeral with his
humans.
They met two years ago
when Mr. Bean’s father,
Charlie, was in a hospital.
His roommate was Herb.
The men had both
grown up in New York
City, so they formed a spe-
cial friendship.
Herb lived an isolated
life in an assisted living
facility. He had very few
visitors, so when Mr. Bean
arrived to visit his human
daddy, it was the highlight
of Herb’s day when the dog
licked his hands.
“Herb had comment-
ed that he once had a Bi-
chon Frise who slept on
his chest, and being able
to see and pet Bean was
healing therapy,” said Jo.
“Herb’s wife had passed
years before and so had his
daughter at age two. In our
hearts, we felt that Herb’s
wife sent us to make Herb
feel loved.”
Jo and Charlie prom-
ised Herb that when he
returned to his care home
that Mr. Bean would con-
tinue visiting. They kept
their promise.
Herb loved dogs and
was tickled when Mr. Bean
jumped up on his bed for a
pat and a nap. Their bond
was evident, so Jo ‘present-
ed’ Herb with a photo of
his favorite dog and Herb
confessed that he kissed
the picture every night.
COVID stopped their
COURTESY PHOTO
Mr. Bean honors his friend Herb by attending his funeral.
heartwarming visits, then
Herb became ill and the
threesome weren’t allowed
to visit. Even when Herb
entered hospice, they were
banned from visiting. The
ARRANGEMENTS
ARE ALWAYS EASIER
IN ADVANCE
When you organize your
funeral in advance you can take
your time, think about what
is important to you and make
choices that are true to you.
Rather than leaving your family to
guess and make rushed decisions
while grieving, you have the
power to take control of your
final wishes.
Planning your funeral is a
beautiful way to take inventory
of your life and choose how you
would like to be remembered.
Musgroves.com
family were heartbroken
for Herb’s isolation and
passing because he was
dearly loved.
“It bothered us that
Herb died without say-
ing goodbye to his buddy
and Charlie’s service dog.
So we three honored him
by attending his funeral,”
said Jo. “Bean has never
been in a church, and was
a little angel sitting on the
pew between us. When the
priest said ‘stand’ or ‘sit’,
Bean followed the priest’s
directives.
“We were proud of Mr.
Bean. He never made a
sound during the service.
I felt that Herb would be
happy looking down from
heaven seeing his best fur-
ry friend in attendance.
Just then, Bean’s eyes
started tracking something
invisible. I believe it was
Herb’s spirit. People at-
tending the mass and the
priest came up to us and
mentioned Beans good be-
havior. It was a fitting fare-
well to his friend Herb.
“Herb was rarely without
his Gator baseball hat. The
photo above is when he
popped it onto Bean’s head
and the well-worn hat was
displayed at his service.
Once care homes open to
visitors, we plan on taking
Mr. Bean to visit residents
in Herb’s memory of his
lifelong love for dogs.”
TIPS
“I caught a glimpse of
our new rescued Bichon,
Gracie, in the bedroom,”
said Kaye. “She is not yet
allowed in that room. My
husband was in the den, so
I asked him, ‘Why is Gracie
in the bedroom?’ He said,
‘She isn’t. She’s sitting on
my lap.’ I looked around
the bedroom again, and it
was empty. That’s when I
realized that our Bichon,
Daisy, who died two years
ago, had come to check on
the new dog she chose for
us. Animals have souls, and
like people, their souls live
on after physical death. It is
reassuring that they will be
waiting for us on the other
side. I hope someone finds
comfort in reading this.”
“Have a plan in place for
someone to care for your
pets if the worst-case sce-
nario occurs ,” said Janet-
ta Overholser, president of
Humane Society of Cottage
Grove. “HSCG has been
contacted several times to
transport homeless pets af-
ter a person passes and no
one is in the home or can
care for the animals left be-
hind. If you had a sudden
heart attack, stroke, car
accident, COVID or pass,
who would look after your
pets? Plan before it hap-
pens. Place information on
your refrigerator “In Case
of Emergency” who to con-
tact. Also include addition-
al information in your will
on care of your pet.”
We would love to hear
about your pet.
Write to angelscribe@
msn.com
Pet Tips ‘n’ Tales on Face-
book: www.facebook.com/
PetTipsandTales
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