It started with three Chihuahuas.
Mickey, Jeffy, and Chico. Paul and Pat Allabaugh's dogs. When they passed, Paul saw a rainbow bridge on Facebook. The kind people put in their yard where a pet is buried, so the family can stand at the edge and remember.
Paul was a welder. He'd spent his whole career at Lyn-Weld in Pennsylvania before moving to New Smyrna Beach. Building things was what he did. So he built one. Then he built another. Then he couldn't stop.
He made them in different sizes. Different styles. He filled his garage. Then his workspace. Then every room he had. Dozens of bridges, each one handcrafted by a man who found peace in the making.
What he couldn't find was the selling.
Paul had social anxiety. His wife Pat tried to help. She suggested Facebook Marketplace, the flea market, social media. But Paul couldn't do any of it. He'd sit in a room full of bridges that nobody knew existed, and the weight of it was growing.
Jason and Amber had been trying to help. They'd met Pat when she needed a wheelchair for a cruise. Amber's mother-in-law had just passed, and they gave Pat the wheelchair. Pat brought rainbow bridges as a thank you. Jason and Amber took a few home. They tried placing some at a secondhand store in Edgewater. One sold. Twenty dollars. The store was closing.
Jason called Paul on March 8. They talked for an hour. Paul was working on pricing. Jason was building a technology company that helps people who can't sell their own work. He told Pat he would build Paul a website for free.
“Sounds good,” Paul said. “Okay, bye-bye.”
He was supposed to send the pricing. He never did.
