I'm so happy to find this ending I cannot tell you! I was scarred for life when at four I first heard the official version of the song and bawled the entire rest of my birthday!

(so can't watch movies like Pete's Dragon without loosing it!)

Only this year did I hear a radio interview with a surviving member of Peter Paul and Mary, (or perhaps one of their kids) who revealed that there WAS a final verse they had practiced in which Puff becomes friends with Jackie's child, but the producers thought the song was too long, so they only recorded it up to the sad ending, leaving a lifetime of tears for me (and others?) until I heard that Puff had been meant to find a new friend...

:D