Are they a myth? Do they really exist? What are they? Some say we become
them after we die. Some say they're a "breed apart" - beings spun off from the
Godhead (whatever that is). They are also known to some cultures as "devas",
and/or they are the evolved spirits of animals.

I spent a lot of time researching angels, trying to get a handle on a visual
concept for my presentation. I've read about their history in literature
and art, as well as "eyewitness" accounts from Near Death Experiences, Death
Bed visions, Out of the Body Experiences and stories of people supposedly
visited or rescued by angels.

Many stories only mention their angels were indescribably beautiful, or
that information has not been included. Other people characterized them
as "beings of light". And still more just looked like normal people. This
documentation has examples of the more vivid accounts. In the final analysis,
I came away with the sense, as one experience put it, that an angel will
appear as we expect them to, so that there will be no mistaking them. Given
this premise, I think an angel appearing to my costuming audience would
be very colorful.

My costume concept has its beginnings with the death of one of my cats,
probably from a stroke, at the age of only 3 1/2 years old. Apparently, he
just had bad genes. I was bothered by most Christian teachings that animals
have no souls. It was inconceivable to me that creatures that could experience
most of the same emotions as humans would not have souls. I went searching
for answers, and found them fairly readily. Many cultures beyond our own
speak of animal spirits. Even in Western culture, there are many a story
of animal ghosts. And then there are the well-documented phenomena known
as Near Death Experiences, where pets that have passed away are seen by
children who have "died" and come back. These NDEs and other stories are
also included in this documentation.  My conclusion, after all my research,
is that we will be reunited with our animal loved ones.

When I started this costume, I treated the robe as just a piece of cloth. Once
I really studied all the photo contributions, though, I realized the powerful
importance and emotion each one of those pet pictures held. I began to treat
the robe with more respect.  Each day, I'd pledge to sew for the memory of a
particular pet.  When I finished for the day, I would carefully fold it first
before putting it away.  And when I would get discouraged and overwhelmed by the
amount of work I had to get this costume ready for presentation, the people and
their pets motivated me to keep going.

There are those who would look askance at so much emotion surrounding the death
of a pet I only had for roughly 3 1/2 years.  Well, this is important  to me to do,
perhaps because I have yet to know much death in my family or friends.