We've Only Just Begun

We've Only Just Begun
More Books Beyond Our Trilogy : We'll Be Filling All These Bookshelves!

Sunday

Is it a Sign or is it Just a Feather?

Birds have be known since the dawn of time to be the spirits of those who have moved from this world into the next. They flit, they fly, they catch our eye. All birds are angels and they are are all working on Our Behalf.  

Sometimes it's just a molten feather on the trail but regardless, it's there for a reason. Someone is going to come along in this very place, in this very spot. Perhaps they are looking for a sign and haven't seen one in a very long time. Perhaps they are thinking of something that bothers them or maybe they are grieving a loss. Suddenly, "Look! A feather!" and they completely forget what was troubling them.

It's always By Design to shift your mood. To surprise you and to get your mind off of what you were thinking about. If you have hope, the feathers are fulfilling their purpose. If you have no hope, then... they are just a feather. 

There is always more than meets the eye. The key is to keep working on your Hope. Your Faith. It will show you a beautiful new world if you are only open to it. 



Learn to recognize the signs in Book 2, "The Lizard from Rainbow Bridge." 
Open up your world. Find the hope again. 

Click HERE to find Lizard on Amazon. 

Saturday

I Seem to Have Loved You in Numberless Forms....


I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times...
In life after life, in age after age, forever.
My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,
That you take as a gift, wear round your neck in your many forms,
In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love, it's age old pain,
It's ancient tale of being apart or together.
As I stare on and on into the past, in the end you emerge,
Clad in the light of a pole-star, piercing the darkness of time.
You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.
At the heart of time, love of one for another.
We have played along side millions of lovers,
Shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting,
the distressful tears of farewell,
Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet, it has found its end in you
The love of all man's days both past and forever:
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours -

And the songs of every poet past and forever.” 

~RABINDRANATH TAGORE~


There's a Reason for the Longing in Your Heart ...


A famous poet (I don't remember which one) once said something like "Love only seems to disappear so that you will seek it again."  It's kind of what I'm saying.

Life is too short  -- and too long -- to live without love. I love you and it would be sad for me to think of you going through life in sadness and longing when the whole point of life is LOVE.  A soul was meant to love and love is all there is. Don't spend the rest of your life looking backward when love is waiting ahead of you. Allow yourself to heal and you will once again experience a love like you've never had before.

Life is the school. Love is the lesson. Love is the Teacher too.

Tuesday

All I Have to Do is Dream....

"She had a dream last night. In her distress she turned and I was there and then she knew she'd be okay.

We use dreams to connect with you. We find our way into your unconscious mind to remind you that we're always there. I know it's hard to believe right now, but someday you will find that nothing of the world was really worth being so upset about. One day you will wake up in Paradise just like she woke up from her dream today. You will see that it was all just a silly ride!

Hang in there. It will fly by in the blink an eye. Don't simply endure it; find a way to enjoy it. I'll see you in your dreams... and on the other side when the time is right for you to return to me."

From: "Jack McAfghan: Reflections on Life with my Master"


Dreams are awesome, aren't they?  Sometimes they are just a mixed up bunch of "debris" that we are sorting out (we often decide whether to store things in our short term or long term memory when we are dreaming -- so dreams can help us sort through the things that aren't necessary and also help us to process the things that are.) 

Dreaming is like going to another plane -- where your soul joins the souls of others to accomplish what you need to accomplish with them.  

Life is the school, love is the lesson. Dreams are our teachers too.  



Thursday

Soon You Will Know. You Will Know That I Am Here.

I know you're grieving. I know that when you grieve it can be a dark and unhappy place. 
Do me a favor. Right here right now. Read the brief excerpt below from Book 3. Then put your device down and sit back and take a deep breath. Look around you. You are more than your grief. Look at your family, if you have one. Your pets, if you have them. Your home, Your furniture. Your houseplants. Your view. 

Close your eyes and think of those you love who have traveled on over the Rainbow Bridge. The Rainbow Bridge is simply a passageway to the other side of the "veil". The veil is so thin, thinner than the thinnest fabric or screen. We are just on the other side of your world, right now. See if you can feel us there. Talk with us. We are waiting for you. 

We are all around you waiting for you to smile again. We are continually trying to show you what you still have in your life that is good. You have what you can see, but you also still have what you cannot see. You have me! You have "We"! We are always trying to help you to know that we are never gone, we are just Gone From Your Sight. We live closer to you than your breath! 

Your heart is our home. When your heart is unhappy, we are unhappy too. When you heal and make your heart a pleasant place, then we can be free to live again and love again. But until then, we wait patiently, for you to see the sun shine on your life again. 
It never went away. 
Nor did we. 


"Heaven is all around you. You just can’t see us because we are vibrating at a higher level than you are. It’s kind of like a dog whistle. There is a noise, a pitch so high that the human ear cannot detect it but it is there nonetheless, for don’t you see all the dogs come running!

When we cross Rainbow Bridge we become only love and love is the highest level of vibration; the highest “pitch” so to speak. This is why you cannot see us. We are here, only gone from your sight until one day you are the same vibration as we are.

When you vibrate in love all the time you will not have to ask again if I am here, you will know that I am here with you."
"Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge" Chapter 65


Sunday

Why Are So Many People Afraid of Death? The History Behind Halloween.


When I arrived at Rainbow Bridge, I really didn't know the difference between Halloween and the Day of the Dead. My friends Here came from all earth faiths, cultures and backgrounds and we all got together to talk about the holidays that we celebrated with our humans on earth. It was fascinating! 

If you live in a place that has four seasons, you know that hard frost usually comes to the garden near October's end. The harvest must happen before the frost comes or the harvest will be lost. 2000 years ago the Celts celebrated Samhain to welcome the Fall Harvest at the end of each Summer. (Remember how I've said that the end of something is always the beginning of another?)  The Celts believed that on a particular night the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead became very thin and that they could communicate with the spirits of the souls who had transitioned. They offered up the harvest, for they believed that the souls of their dearly departed would visit, drawn back by the very power of their faith. They would have parties, wear masks, dress up in animal skins and tell fortunes. Ultimately the Celts were conquered by the Romans and around 600 AD. Samhain merged with Christian tradition and it became an annual routine to pray for the dead at harvest time.



The inspired Pope eventually declared November 1 as the annual day to honor the martyrs and saints. When November 1 became All Saint's Day, October 31st became All Hallow's Eve. A hallow is a saint, or holy person. E'en was the short version of "evening" and thus evolved "Hallow-een"! Did you know that?! I didn't!

The Irish Catholic immigrants brought All Hallow's Eve with them to the U.S. and "Hallowe'en" soon became a tradition. Meanwhile the Catholics and other Christians revered the date of November 2nd as All Soul's Day, a day when the dead are honored. Far away, south of the equator 3000 years before, the Aztec people were honoring their tradition of Dia de los Muertos: The Day of the Dead. It is sometimes known as Dia de los Santos (Santos = Saints) in Central and South America. This day which used to be a month-long observance, continues to be passionately celebrated. The beauty of it was --and still is-- that The Day of the Dead reveres those who have passed from this world into the next. It does not mourn their death, it celebrates their life! It does not fear. It is driven by love. It is a happy time, a colorful celebration of food and flowers, masks and processions, music, altars and candles. Other cultures too, from one side of the world to the other, established similar traditions and over time they blended together to become the holidays of today.  

In the fast pace of modern life, details can be lost and misconstrued. The beauty of these holi-("holy")-days can be smothered in retail consumerism and hype. Many people get caught up in the candy, the costumes, the haunted houses, eerie ghosts and scary ghouls. They completely forget about Heaven and the Harvest. They forget about the Souls who once touched their lives and the natural beauty of an edible organic pumpkin before it is carved into a jack o'lantern.

Mostly they forget the thinning of the veil.* They grow up as children fearing ghosts and goblins --- and they learn to fear death too. The souls of those who love them become the creepy phantoms. They are not often taught that life goes on and the souls of their loved ones live forever in a sacred place where they wait for the rest of us to Come Home. These children become adults who have lost faith in what they cannot see. In fact they become quite fearful of what they cannot see. They forget that they are never ever separated --- no not even by death -- from the ones they love. 



Sometimes you need to create new traditions for yourself when you are faced with loss and grief --- or if you are struggling with family issues and disappointments. Holidays can be difficult at best when your life feels empty or incomplete. One of the things you can do for yourself this holiday "season" is to celebrate Halloween as your very own Day of the Dead. Do not mourn the loss. Celebrate the life.  Build an altar, light a candle. Say your prayers. Invite your loved one to visit you and talk with them about your hopes, dreams and memories. Soak in the happy times of being blessed by someone in your life who loved you and who loves you still. Someone who taught you the meaning of love, not fear. 

Celebrate that love and know that love never dies. 




"Become as little children..."    
Matt. 18:3

* If you've read Book 1, you know how I love studying language. As I wrote the word VEIL I saw the word "EVIL," scrambled. I saw the world "VILE," scrambled. Then I saw the word "LIVE" and that's the one I'm going with!

"You Were The Teacher I Needed..."


"Reflections...Book 1. This is by far one of the Greatest Books I have ever Read, Touched my Heart and Soul, a True Masterpiece. The Whole Series, the books are truly inspiring....You were the Teacher I needed to find to open up the door that had been closed for so long..."  
~George K.


Click HERE to see more of our wonderful reviews and to order this and the other books in the Jack McAfghan Trilogy! 

Wednesday

Rainbow Bridge is not a "Real" Bridge...


There is one thing you need to understand in order to heal your grief....and you will understand clearly when you read "Reflections". Heaven is not up in the sky somewhere. Rainbow Bridge is not a long apparatus made of bricks and mortar and steel. Our loved ones live all around us... in the very same space... just on a different level of vibration, like a radio that has different stations and frequencies. Your best friend is right beside you where they've always been. The Bridge is a thin veil of love. Only Gone From Your Sight.



Heaven is all around you. You just can’t see us because We are vibrating at a higher level than you are. It’s kind of like a dog whistle. There is a noise, a pitch so high that the human ear cannot detect it but it is there nonetheless, for don’t you see all the dogs come running!

When we cross Rainbow Bridge we become only Love and Love is the highest level of vibration--the highest 'pitch' so to speak. This is why you cannot see Us. We are here, only gone from your sight until one day you are the same vibration as We are. When you vibrate in Love all the time you will not have to ask again if I AM here; you will know that I AM here with you.


Available Worldwide on Amazon and through your favorite bookseller


Monday

All Dogs Need A Purpose: The Service Dogs of 9-11

(Excerpt from 
Chapter 15) 





"...A dog can wag its tail but a dog needs more than that. Just like a person needs a purpose, a dog needs a purpose too. We don’t feel good when we are just taking up space. Grady had been a successful therapy dog many years before. We all need to be successful at something for as long as we live.

One of our friends was a veteran rescue dog from the World Trade Center. He had many stories about rescuing people from the wreckage. We learned a lot from him. He told us that when the buildings went down many rescue workers arrived on site, including specially trained dogs from all over the country. He was one of them. The mission of the dogs was to find survivors and victims. All too soon the unfortunate time came when no more could be found. At this point many of the dogs became listless and depressed.* They refused to eat or drink. They failed to thrive. They did not feel the desire to live because they were simply not able to fulfill their purpose. Being able to do something we’re good at prolongs our life and promotes our sense of well-being. 

If we don’t have a job to do, a task to accomplish, or someone to serve on a regular basis we will create our own opportunities. We will chase lizards and rabbits, obsess about squirrels and other mammals, bark at everyone who passes by or rearrange the rugs in the house. We can always find something to do if our humans don’t need us or provide us with work to do..."


In memory. 
May we never forget those we lost and what we learned.



* What we did not choose to share in our book came from a reliable source at Ground Zero. The only way to keep the rescue dogs on task and moving forward when no more casualties could be found was to replant body parts and scents in the rubble so the dogs could continually have a measure of success. Success is everything to a true service dog. Much like humans, when we "retire" we need another job to do or we lose our momentum for living.   

Saturday

Picking Up The Ashes: Entering the Twilight Zone of Grief

Picking Up The Ashes: Entering the Twilight Zone of Grief
Click the link above for actual video footage of the scene which will open in a new window.

Excerpt from Book 3, Chapter 20 "Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge"  

"It was the first time she went to the park without me. She had just been to the vet to pick up my ashes. It was raining that day; pouring just like it poured the morning that I passed. I knew right where she would go. She would always go to Grandfather Tree when she was having a bad time or needed to sort things out in her head. She sat down under the mulberry, which was thick with big leaves, so thick that the rain rolled right off of them while she remained dry underneath. She thought of me, her mind playing like a cinematic movie, reviewing the fun times we had shared. Her thoughts began to crescendo as she remembered the suffering of our final hours together. I did not want her to go to those memories.


Suddenly a car pulled up into the parking lot behind her. She heard a door open and close. It made her stop sniffling a little bit but she was kind of upset because she really just wanted to be alone. Who in their right mind would be out in this rainstorm? A moment later she turned her head and her tear-filled eyes to watch as they walked by.  It was a woman walking with her Afghan Hound under a big red umbrella. What kind of person comes out to the park and walks in the pouring rain, she asked herself again. And an Afghan Hound? Kate had never seen an Afghan Hound in these parts. None of it made sense and she wondered if she was dreaming, but she wasn’t. I sent the rain. I sent the woman. I sent the Afghan Hound. I sent the red umbrella. Remember what I said about things that make no sense?..."  


The Jack McAfghan Trilogy will heal your grief. Available on Amazon Worldwide and through your favorite bookseller. Visit http://amzn.to/2vSuPwb to see our five star reviews. Start feeling better in a matter of hours by starting with Book 1 "Reflections" 




Sunday

When You Grieve For One Who Grieves



Sometimes it is harder to witness one grieving than it is to grieve for yourself. Sometimes you grieve more for them than they grieve for themselves because you tend to project your own feelings onto them and it distorts and magnifies the grief.

Yesterday she heard the familiar "THUMP" of the bird hitting the window. She ran outside and it was a young adult female cardinal. So beautiful. It had died instantly having broken its neck in the impact.  
She went inside to get a soft towel and returned for burial proceedings. She admired its feathers, its beak, its regal beauty as she wrapped the bird. She prayed for it and spoke with it as she carried it to the fence at the back of the yard, the place where the cardinal and her mate would often frolic and play.  
As she dug the soft hole, she cried softly. She covered the beautiful creature with the dirt which she sifted through her fingers so that it would land gently upon the tangerine-colored wings. 


After she went back into the house, she tried to re-focus on her tasks at hand there. In a matter of moments there was the "CHIRP CHIRP" of the male cardinal. He was at the back fence flitting around. "CHIP CHIP CHIRP CHIRP".  Oh this made her cry again, harder. It was not a happy chirp. She imagined what it must be like for the cardinal's partner to not know what happened. To be confused and lost and alone. She wondered if they had a nest -- of eggs -- or perhaps of little ones who still needed their mother in order to survive. She had hopes that cardinals do not mate for life so that this beautiful red boy would be able to find love again. 
Throughout the day she would hear his CHIRP and she would be so unhappy for him.  

But today, there he was. CHIRP! CHIRP!  Flying around with another girl. Humans take a long time to heal and four-leggeds heal 7x faster. Birds heal almost immediately once they know what's going on.  Mr. Cardinal had seen the whole thing. He knew what had happened. He did not waste any time in grief for as soon as his lady passed, she joined him in spirit.  
Birds and animals know more than you think they do and they are capable of knowing more than you know.  They would say to you this: 

"Don't grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form."  
Jalaluddin Rumi

Read my books and I will help you understand how we go and how we come back and what happens in the middle of it all. 
Jack McAfghan: The Trilogy is available worldwide on Amazon and through all major booksellers.  


Wednesday

Don't Be In A Hurry. It Takes Time to Heal.



There is a period of one to two earth years that humans are to refrain from making big decisions. It’s because you don’t always make the best decisions when you are grieving. Those who make decisions in haste often live to regret them. You must move through the time of suffering, strengthening your faith and being willing to grow through the grief in order to be able to see things differently. As you grow, your blind faith will continue to open your eyes. You will see everything in a whole new light when you come out the other side of grief. 


Then you will be able to make very good decisions for yourself, better than ever, because of what you learned.


"Jack McAfghan: Return from Rainbow Bridge"

The Power in a Name


This is my rainbow friend Domenico in the picture. Do you know that there is power in a name? Domenico means "of the Lord". You can be sure his Master called him Home where he now waits for his earthly beloveds and lives in the light of Love.

She didn't have any profound reasons for naming me. She called me Jack because she just always liked the name Jack and she always wanted to meet a guy named Jack. Then when she hadn't met one, she told me "Jack's my favorite name and you're my favorite friend so I'm going to name you 'Jack'." In actuality Jack means "man". I loved that. She doesn't know it yet, but someday she will know why I had to leave so soon. Because when you make someone your One and Only it leaves no room for anyone else to come into your life. And she has more to do besides build her life around me.

What did you name your pet and why? As you ponder this, it might give you clues to the Destiny that unfolded in your life with them.
Feel free to comment below your pet's name and your thoughts about this. 

Find the Jack McAfghan Trilogy of Books to heal your grief and strengthen your heart on Amazon Worldwide. http://amzn.to/2sCnH50

Monday

Anger Is Part of Grief


Who has been the source of your anger? 
Yourself? 
Do you blame yourself? 
The vet? 
The people around you who seem not to care? 
God? 
Anger is a part of the grief process and it can be very scary, especially if you were never allowed or encouraged to express anger. 
Feel it. Heal it. Let it go. 
My book will show you how. 

Thursday

Planning for the Inevitable: Learn to Communicate Ahead of Time


Hi Jack, 
It has been a long time and when it is too hard for my human brain to know, I must come back to you. My Balto is 12 years old. He still looks like a baby but he is having increasing issues with osteoarthitis. His Vet asked me if I wanted to try laser treatment to ease the pain. I wonder if this will work? I just want to be sure he will let me know ahead of time so I do not let him suffer...On the other hand I want Him to have a quiet life.  I don't know much about his life before he came to me. He was 9 years old when we met in a shelter. I really hope I will understand his signs when they come to me. Sometimes Veterinarians are only doing their job but in the same time I want to try everything to ease his pain. I am a little bit lost. Anyway I can at last feel his love now. I am sorry if this message is not clear. And as I told Kate I have your Book close to me...... ♡♡♡♡
Love, 
Balto's "Mom" 


Dear Mom, 
The energy of your message is very clear because you write from a place of love and I always understand love. Please say Hi to Balto for me. If you can get a product called Dasaquin, it helped me a lot. I was struggling a bit moving around too and once we went on that I was like a puppy again -- all the way till the end. I don't know if it will work for Balto but it worked for me. Start with that... and then the laser if it doesn't work. 

I am glad you keep my book close to you because that is where I can always remind you that everything is okay, even if it doesn't feel like it is at the moment.  

I must tell you that the most important thing you can do these days is to sit quietly with Balto. Put your hand on his heart and the other hand on yours. Tell him that you want to learn to communicate with each other through your hearts and that you may need his help with this. This is where he will communicate with you when he is "gone from your sight" one day.  Sit quietly with him, breathe with him, feel your hearts together. It will be good for both of you.

Whenever the world gets to be too much, with your hands on your hearts everything always seems better because it reminds you that your power is in your heart, not your head.

Love, 
Jack


Monday

My Poem About Squirrels


I think that I shall never see 
This squirrel come down from this tree. 
A squirrel whose tail goes east and west;
She teases me! She is a pest! 
She sits and looks at me all day, 
And waves her furry tail to say 
She'll never let me win this game. 
I must forfeit; she is to blame! 
The tree protects with limbed terrain. 
Her sheltered home, it's her domain. 
Only God can make a tree, 
Or a squirrel... or fools like me. 


~ by Jack McAfghan. 
Based on the poem "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer (1914)

The Guilt of Grief

What's typically the first thing you say to yourself when someone you love has died?  "I wasn't there."  "I should've called more often." "I should have loved them more." "I wish we'd ended on a more positive note."  

And when it comes to your four-legged friends? "I wish we'd taken more walks." "I should have fed her healthier food." "I waited too long to take him to the vet."  "I took him to the vet too soon." "I could've done more. I didn't do enough."  It's the human condition to go through this torment in one's mind. 

Some humans try to control so many circumstances in their lives. They think they are responsible for holding their world together. Then they find out in difficult times, that they are not really in control of much of anything at all. It was all a facade and many go through high hoops and spend a lot of energy trying to prove to themselves that they can control everything. It is humbling and eventually it is free-ing for them to find out that they had no power over what happened. You do not have to hold the world together. God takes care of that. Your job is to try to control your mind and let the power of the love in your heart lead the way through the shadows and out the other side. 
Keep in mind that when you have no control over something, YOU CANNOT BLAME YOURSELF. There are some people who are so controlling that they leave decisions up to someone else so in the event it is the wrong decision they can maintain their "innocence" and blame the one who made the decision! You silly willy humans! It's all such a common and often unconscious game that only goes to keep you apart from each other. 

Guilt and Blame is a common thread for all who grieve and yet there is nothing you could've done or should've done. It was out of your hands. After all, you know what the outcome would have been if you had an ounce of say in the matter...In the Guilt of Grief, you are completely innocent. Higher Powers are at the helm of circumstance and destiny. They know what They are doing and why. There are reasons you cannot possibly know now, but you will someday. What you CAN control is how you respond to what happens to you. It's one more thing we come to teach you. The fact is that You loved and your love is always enough.  


"You can't turn back the clock. You cannot change the circumstances. You never could change them. They were set in Destiny, in the fate of the Rainbow Time Schedule. Even things that might seem to be accidents were pre-destined. You need to love yourself as much as your pet loves you...and forgive yourself for everything. You are not guilty of anything."  
from the book, Jack McAfghan: Reflections on Life with my Master by Kate McGahan

Friday

Flowers Where There Were No Flowers

Have you ever been on a road or a path you have taken many times with your beloved best friend? After your friend has gone to Rainbow Bridge and you are working through your grief, we like to venture back and show you little surprises along the way. Some of you refuse to go back to those special places we shared because you are afraid of your tears and your grief, but we need you to go there. It's where we always went together and it's where we will always continue to go. Even though we are Gone From Your Sight. It's okay if you shed those tears. Tears must be shed to work through the grief. It's our only goal: to heal you, to comfort you, to help to make you happy again. It's all we want. We want you to believe in miracles! We have lots of opportunities to come to you because the rules are very different in the world of Heaven beyond Rainbow Bridge. Just like God created the world, POOF!, we are, each one of us, magicians in a world where scientific rules do not prevail.
Hi! That's Me Saying I Love You! What Cactus Flower Blooms in April??
If you've read my book "The Lizard from Rainbow Bridge", you know how signs and angels can show up in ordinary ways in your life. In our book, Lizard teaches you to recognize a sign when you see one. We can show up in extra-ordinary ways too!  Like shooting stars and funny metaphors. We especially like flowers because we know you like flowers and that you will notice them. Especially in places that are otherwise flower-less.

Kate and I made this path on the Wild Horse Mesa wilderness trail over the years of hiking there. There were never ever any wildflowers there. Just pine needles, juniper brush and red dirt. She eventually spread my ashes under the tiny juniper tree that you see in the photo. We had re-routed the trail to allow my friend the tree room to grow. The trail originally ran along the righthand side of the little tree... and it simply didn't have room to grow. Horses and travelers would graze by the tree each and every time so that it was becoming lopsided.
                     

So now she calls it Jack's Path. The first Spring after I made my passage to Rainbow Bridge, not only did purple four o'clocks pop up to the lefthand side of the path, but the daisies came up in the middle too. Here's the proof.
Jack's Path
By the way, my friend the tree is doing really well, growing balanced and strong now.
And so is Kate.

Love,
Kate

Saturday

Your Book Has Healed Me In Ways Nothing Else Can

Hi Kate, 
My Sat. Morning has been consumed by "Jack McAfghan: Reflections on Life with my Master" and it is with red and swollen eyes I commend you on this lovely book about a lovely dog, love being the operative word throughout. With my Maggie's head on my lap, her big eyes begging me not to cry I would have to put it down as the pages and words blurred. You certainly struck a nerve in me as I am sure you will many others who have ever loved and had to make this choice. I would love to buy a copy for my daughter-in-law and son who have just said goodbye to their beloved Faith, I think it would help them in their journey to heal as well. I told my her it was a book about healing not dying to get her to read it she is grieving her big beautiful black lab. I am sure she will love it! Many Thanks! 
Karen Petit



Dear Karen, Thank you! I love what you say about the book being about healing, not about dying.  I would like to use that quote -- maybe quote you, in a Facebook or blog post sometime soon. Most people say "I'll read it, but I already know how it ends, " but they don't know what's in store. I'm sorry you cried so much over it, but there is a method to my madness because every tear you cry you are releasing something from your own past that needs healing. Thank you so much for writing.  xo   Kate

Friday

The One Thing That Keeps You Stuck in the Grief




Dear Jack: 
The hardest thing I'm dealing with right now is my guilt. I have lost people in my life, including my best human friend and my mother. Losing my Heart and Soul pet has hit me harder than anything and I miss him more than anyone ever and that is why I feel guilty. I've never admitted this to anyone other than a total stranger I happened to walk into at a doctors appt. who admitted the same thing after telling her about my best friend.
Sincerely,
Lost in Guilt



Dear Lost, 

You are no longer lost because the moment you realize what is holding you back, is the moment you can begin to move forward. It is part of the Acceptance process. 

During our years of working hospice we found that guilt is the #1 grief issue 90% of the time. Have you read my book yet because we address this in detail. That's one of the reasons we wrote my first book. Kate was riddled with guilt. She was stuck in the guilt of grief for six months or more. When you finally accept that guilt in unnecessary, you will emerge from the depths of the darkness, You find out that you are free and you realize that there is plenty of hope for healing and living a normal life again. A better than normal life for what we have taught you by our leaving. 


Guilt is all so unnecessary. Did you know that guilt doesn't even exist except in your own mind? But that might be too much for you to process right now. Please if you haven't already, get my book and let me comfort you on this topic. I will bring your best friend to you and release you both from the chains of guilt. In about 3-4 hours you can be in a totally different place. Please don't be afraid to go there. Your pet's world will open up when yours does. You are both connected and your grief impacts him. Now don't feel guilty about that too! It's a normal and human part of the process. 

Learn about it. Do it for you and do it for your best friend.



Our books are available on Amazon Worldwide. Click here to view my page on Amazon.com!

Love,
Jack

Monday

Do You Ever Get Goose Bumps?




Tonight she was out walking the dogs, Immy and Joey. It was a cold high desert night but it felt good to walk, so they walked a little farther than usual.  Just as they turned to head for home, she looked up and saw a bright star in the western sky. 

“I remember that star,” she said aloud. “I used to look at that star from my living room and from our front porch.”  She had a smile when she first said that.  She had built the house and loved the house. She and I had lived most of our years together there. She remembered looking out over to the western horizon as she watched the sunsets come and go, and then the bright star appear every night when the night was clear. Suddenly her “view” was interrupted by the memory of the neighbors at the house across the street.  It blocked her line of vision and took the star away from the sky in her mind. The neighbors had been very mean and they did some things that indirectly caused and ultimately brought us financial ruin.

“It was all so beautiful,” she said as the tears began to sting her eyes.  I sensed I might have to intervene.  “It was all so wonderful,” (Was she sad? Was she mad? Her emotions were intensifying) “...until they came along and ruined everything.”  She was starting to get upset about it again. I had to do something. I did not want her thinking those negative thoughts. There was nothing she could do about those circumstances now. It did her no favors to be dwelling on it.  After all, she had had such joy when she first saw our star.    

She was startled when she felt my goose bumps from the back of her neck down to her lower back, radiating with warmth. Everyone has their own “signature” goose bump. This was mine... and she knew it.  

“Okay Jack,” she said to me, “You’re right. I know it doesn’t matter now.” 
She had learned when to identify me and she had received the message I had intended for her! “Thank you Jack.  Thank you.”  
She was so pleased that she had not missed a beat and she knew that it was me. 

I radiated out my warmth and love and covered her again, so proud that she could learn to set her pain aside and live in the moment with me, just like I taught her to do.  She thanked me again. She could tell from my warmth and intensity that I was happy and that made her happy too. That’s how soul mates are. Connected on such a deep level that everything they think and feel affects the other.  

Do you ever get goose bumps? Who do you think it is? When do they come to you? What are they telling you?  Pay attention. Goose bumps are not just a random occurrence. They are how we reach out to you in vibration. It’s how we touch you when we no longer can be in your view. 

                                                                                                            
  Love,  Jack