September 13, 2026 • By Debbie Johnstone
Do Animals in Heaven Celebrate Our Life's Big Moments?
Do Animals in Heaven Celebrate Our Life's Big Moments?
There's a question that tends to surface quietly, usually a year or two after a loss, once the sharpest edge of grief has softened just enough to notice life moving again. Someone will tell me about a new baby, a wedding, a promotion, even a new puppy or kitten curled up on the sofa, and then almost apologize for it. "Do you think she knows? Is it okay that I'm happy?"
I love this question, because the answer is always the same, and it always surprises people: yes. Not only do they know, they are some of the most enthusiastic witnesses you have.
In sessions, when someone shares good news, the animals on the other side don't respond with anything like sorrow or distance. What comes through instead is closer to joy. A dog who spent his whole life guarding the front door will show me himself standing just outside the delivery room, tail wagging, as if he was there for the baby's first breath too. A cat who loved to perch on the highest shelf in the house will show me the new home you moved into, already scouting her favorite windowsill.
They don't experience your joy as a betrayal of what you shared. They experience it as an extension of it. The love didn't stop when they crossed the Rainbow Bridge, and neither did their investment in your happiness.
If anything, I hear the opposite concern more often than guilt: animals in spirit worrying that their person is holding back joy on purpose, afraid to feel it fully because it seems disloyal somehow. That's the piece I most want you to release. Living fully, laughing again, welcoming new love into your home, none of it erases what you had. It simply gives them one more thing to celebrate from where they are.
So the next time something good happens, big or small, try including them in it. Say their name. Picture them there. You may find, in a quiet moment afterward, that you can feel them cheering.
Listen2Animals.com
Debbie Johnstone
