Please Don't Be Afraid to Love Again

Me, Jack, when I was little with my big sister Grady. Kate knew Grady was winding down and if you read our books, you'll know that I was the "BackUp Plan". But oh. Oh so much more! 

It takes strength and healing to open your heart to love again. Some people run right out and fill that space we left behind. Many more people say "NEVER AGAIN" because they remember only the pain of the final moments, not the lifetime we shared in love. 

Take all the time you need, but life is too short - and too long - to be alone. Yes and some people are "alone" even when they have a partner and even in the biggest family! There is nothing like the love of a pet. Few humans are capable of such love. Please keep your heart and mind open. It will be a unique and different kind of love, but it will be wonderful too. Message today from Kate: Don't be afraid...Follow your heart. It's always been your best guide. 

Love, Jack 🐾

This photo is of our Immy who was in need of good home and Kate drove all the way from Arizona to Montana to get her. In the sixth month of her grief, it was an emotional and complex time. And Immy was/is a complex girl! Oh but Kate and Joey would never trade her for the world. And besides that - they still have me. 😘Only Gone from Their Sight. 🐾

Immy McAfghan

If you need support, do read our books, join my Facebook Page 

and visit our support group! 

No Matter How Far: Love Never Dies and Communication Never Ends

When humans speak to one another they speak with their voices in words that they have defined.  Do you realize that the words people speak are just a small percentage of their communication? When you take away the voice, the speech, and the words, there is still a great deal of communication taking place. The words are shaped in the mind; in the brain. The inspiration for speaking the words comes from the heart. The heart is the true center of genuine communication and Love is the greatest inspiration in the universe.

You may not realize it but you are communicating with us all the time, even when you aren't speaking. We watch you. We hear you. We feel you.  We observe your body language. We look into your eyes. We watch your gestures and listen to your tone of voice.  These are more revealing than the words that you might speak.

"Like words that sound the same but are opposite, sometimes I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying. They kind of seemed the same. I would have to look very carefully at her eyes and her mouth. I assessed the tilt of her head and her breathing pattern. I got good at deciphering her, but sometimes even when she was laughing, tears would come out of her eyes. Humans are strange that way. They live such a dichotomy." 

(Jack McAfghan: Reflections on Life with my Master, Chapter 29)

You can learn to understand us too.  We do not use words, but we communicate in very similar ways. We can't smile but we can wag our tail. We can't speak our joy in words but we can jump, squirm, and wiggle when you come home from work!  You can get hot under the collar because you are angry. We can get hot under the collar too and we might growl when we feel that way.  Most of all, we speak from the heart. Our heart to yours.

After we cross the Rainbow Bridge we are all magicians!  We can "speak" in amazing and unique ways by using the power of energy connected to tangible things. While some of you can pierce the "veil" between Heaven and Earth and see and hear and know things through the power of the psyche and intuition, we know that most of you can only sense things in the physical realm, if you are aware of us at all. So we find ways to reach you.  Clouds, rainbows, dreams.  Lots of times things that are associated with power and energy like lightbulbs, clocks, electronics, and appliances.  Electricity is the closest thing on earth to what we become when we cross the Rainbow Bridge. We are energy and electricity is energy so it's easiest for us to reach you through energy circuits.

You can learn to communicate with us by translating what you see into what we are sharing with you. You can learn to speak to us not only through your words, gestures, and body language but also through your heart. It is through the heart that we see, hear, and feel most clearly.  If you think you might have seen a sign from me, chances are you have -- or you wouldn't have even thought of signs from me. If you have goosebumps (the electricity of the skin) -- observe your thoughts and look around. It is probably me.  All of us in Heaven have a goosebump "signature" and you will learn to recognize mine.

Just keep an open mind, grow in your faith that I am not gone, just gone from your sight. "Wipe the tears from your eyes and watch for the signs that I send to remind you that Love Never Dies."

Stay tuned for our upcoming and long-awaited book: “PawPrints from Heaven: How to Communicate with Your Pets in the Afterlife” to be released in September!

Our Story is Your Story Too: How Jack's Books Came About

Message to you from Kate: 

I rescued Jack at the age of 12 weeks and had the privilege of training him and shaping him into the dog he was destined to be. We started with Obedience, moved into Agility, pressed forward as an uncertified therapy dog. We worked for hospice and Jack spread joy everywhere he went. They say a therapy dog brings much healing and love, but we were one dog and one master and we were the ones who were loved; we had the love of thousands. Jack and I worked the world together side by side until one fateful day when the vet discovered a rectal mass that needed removal. Jack did not recover despite my doing everything and anything to keep him alive. Four days later, Jack died on our kitchen floor. 

Then the pet loss adventure began. I was grieving so much that I couldn't hear him. I couldn't see him, blinded by the grief over the loss of my four-legged best friend. He continually sent me messages from where he was. A lightning bolt came out of a clear blue sky. Birds and butterflies would land on me or dive bomb me. He sent all kinds of messages and signs when I was grieving; when I was crying. There were no pauses in between my tears and his messages fell on deaf eyes and ears. I could not listen. I could not be quiet. All I could do was grieve and grieve and grieve. 

One day a friend helped me to realize that I was still clinging to Jack. In all my grief work with hospice and teaching people to let go, I was still hanging on to it. Exactly six months from the day he crossed the Rainbow Bridge, I was able to scatter his ashes into the air on our favorite wilderness trail. I set him free and set myself free at the same time. I came to realize that I had identified so much as being "Jack's Mom" that when I lost him I began to identify as "Death's Victim". Victim no more, it was time for me to recreate my life without Jack, without being a victim of anything. 

One night - just a few days after I'd spread his ashes, I dusted off my journal and Jack's words came out of my pen. They were in the first "person" and they spoke to me about truth and spoke it in a way that commanded me to listen. They commanded me to write. He was always the more outgoing of the two of us. He would always pull me forward to meet new people and to interact in new ways with the community. He pulled me forward this particular night because he started something that would not stop. He helped me to write a book called "Jack McAfghan: REFLECTIONS" and he comforted me through the process of writing it. He wanted me to write it, not only to work through my own grief, but to comfort, inspire and support others working through theirs. This would come to be the first book of many in the Jack McAfghan Pet Loss Series. 

All the books in the Jack McAfghan Pet Loss Series are available on Amazon Worldwide

or through your favorite bookseller.

In honor of Jack I wish to share our story with others who need to believe that love never ends and that life goes on long beyond one's earthly death. Our story is your story too. 

Jack will tell you: "I am not dead. I am awake.... You want me to wake up but in my death I did wake up and I saw you were still sleeping."  Love never dies.

One of the Secrets to Healing Pet Loss

Holidays can be challenging at best when one grieves. Sometimes you lose someone in your life and many years later you look back and, well, they are someone you used to love. Once in a while, however, you lose someone very special; someone you have had an extraordinary relationship with. Someone like no other. These are your soulmates and it doesn't matter how many legs they have! Soulmates live in the hearts of each other forever. They always did; they always will. Their love surpasses all time, distance, and circumstance.

 It's normal to grieve. It's normal to cry. You cannot heal without the tears. There is a battle between the head and the heart. The head tells us that they are gone, that they are "dead". The heart in its eternal wisdom knows that WE ARE STILL CONNECTED to them. The heart knows that we knew each other before this life and that we will know each other again when this life is over. The heart always knows.

The end of this life is not the end of life.

If we are to heal this wound, we must accept their passing from this life and learn how to communicate with them in a whole new way. If we don't learn a new way of being with them, we will grieve them forever...such a tragedy, for they are not even "gone"! They are Only Gone From Sight. We MUST stay in the power of our hearts and out of the chaos of our minds. It takes practice. The common quote, "My mind knows that you are gone but my heart will never accept it" is incorrect. Our hearts know everything and it's our thinking that denies, struggles, and fights the acceptance of the loss. 

Our upcoming book is going to discuss in detail how to connect with your loved ones. One way is by bringing your focus into your heart. You can practice even now, by quieting yourself and placing the weight of your hands on your heart. You will feel the power and comfort there. The heart will reassure you that they are very much alive and well on the other side of the supernatural veil and they are eagerly waiting for you to find them there. 

Your best friends are waiting patiently for you to grow in the faith that they have never left you. Jack will show you how. They are waiting in the "wings," in the pages of our books. Keep the faith. True love never dies.

Get to know Jack and you will find yourself in a whole new state of mind - and heart - as you enter this new year. Do it for you. Do it for your best friend who waits for you to be happy again when you think of them. Any and all of our books will help you to see things from a new point of view and will forever affect the way you view life and death and loss and love.

Prayers to all of you in this New Year. You're not getting older, you're getting better. Because Grief is your Teacher. 

Love, Kate and Jack 🐾

(Book 7 in the Series, "PawPrints from Heaven," is due for release this Summer. It will teach you how to cope with not having your loved ones physically present and help you learn to interact with them in a whole new way.)   

Find all of our books on Amazon Worldwide. Click here to view all of them.

About Our Books

No one would ever believe that a dog can heal someone's grief and even bring someone back into having faith in God again after pet loss, but Jack can. The books in the Jack McAfghan Trilogy are not "How To" books. They are true stories based on real events. Each book tells a different story with pearls of wisdom and morals in each chapter. Chapters are short and typefonts are large to allow the reader to process the lessons in each chapter.  

Book 1, "Reflections: A Dog's Memoir on Life and the Afterlife" makes it easy to heal your grief. Read along with Jack and Kate -- take a little walk together through the grief process -- and you will find that as Kate heals you will heal too. It's that simple. 

Book 2, "The Lizard from Rainbow Bridge" teaches you how to recognize signs and angels when they make themselves known in your life -- and also teaches the power and importance of love and forgiveness.

Book 3, "Return from Rainbow Bridge" revisits a bit of the grief and then opens your mind to the possibilities that exist on both sides of the Rainbow Bridge which connects those on earth with the ones they love on the Other Side, in Heaven. Each one of Jack's books has a happy ending.   

If you prefer a non-fiction Guide to Healing Pet Loss, Book 4 "Only Gone From Your Sight" will walk you through all the stages of grief and bring you out the other side of it. It is written as a love letter from your best friend to you about all facets of grief, loss and living again.  

Each book is carefully crafted to heal your heart, open your mind and teach you new ways of looking at life, love and loss.  Life is the school love is the lesson and Jack and Kate are your teachers in this Class of Love and learning to live with loss.  

All books are available on Amazon Worldwide in paperback, Kindle and always free on Kindle Unlimited. Printed copies are available through your favorite bookseller. Book 1, "Reflections" is also available in LARGE PRINT. We don't want anyone to miss out on the healing power of Jack!

Join Jack on a journey to Rainbow Bridge and back again. Heal your heart, learn to recognize the signs and strengthen your faith beyond anything you knew was possible.  Our story is your story too.  

CRUZ: One Month in Heaven: Learn the Secret to "Mom's" Healing!

Today is one month since my baby Cruz was lifted up. 

I wanted to share here because a little over 3 years ago my baby Timmy was lifted up and one month after that I was in a different place. I was in pain, never thought of getting another pet and just sad all of the time. Completely heart broken. 

Then I read Jack's books. I cried as I read the book because I felt Timmy was telling me the story which led to me smiling with tears in my eyes. I started to see signs of Timmy and I Knew he was always with me. Now here I am today. I have read all of the Jack McAfghan books and I know Love Never Dies. I have seen cardinals, butterflies, seen Cruz in my dreams. I have felt her with me, rub my leg as I walked into another room. I even see her sister Beckham look up to the ceiling and I say out loud to Beckham do you see Cruz? Knowing she does. I have even seen Beckham laying on the couch then she darts upstairs like she is chasing after Cruz like they always did while playing. 

I wanted to share here for those who haven't read Jack's books. Please do. I know how you feel and I know your babies want you to heal too. I will forever love Cruz and miss holding her, (she Always wanted to snuggle and gave the best hugs😻🐾) but thanks to Kate McGahan and Jack for sharing their story I Know Love Never Dies and l know Timmy and Cruz are Always with me. Please just read the books. You and your babies will be so glad you did. 

Find Jack's Books HERE