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

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I've Heard that Dogs and Other Pets Don't Have Souls and It Makes Me So Sad!

 Dear Jack, 

I have been reading your books.  I saw something today that said God only loans our babies to us for a short time to enjoy on Earth.  Also, then, that they won't be in Heaven and we won't see them, again.  Thoughts?  

A Devoted Reader

Dear One, 

Thank you for reading the books, for they are the key to healing from your loss. 

People come from all walks of faith and all walks of life and belief. This person sounds like they have been convinced that animals don't go to Heaven. 

Oh, I have many (many) thoughts on the topic. I've been to Heaven firsthand and Kate has been studying these things for 40+ years. We are currently writing an entire book on this very subject as we speak. 

It's mostly strict religious people who will tell you this kind of thing but there is much evidence to the contrary. Pets have souls just like you do. If they didn't they would all have the same personality, and we don't. 

Pets have the Spirit of God in them just like you do. That Spirit is what brings all of us back to God when it's time to leave this physical world. That Spirit is the love of God that joins each and every one of us together, and Him to us... Some are bonded more than others (known as "soulmates")... God brings all of us Home when our work and learning on earth is completed. Life is the school, love is the lesson and we all "graduate" into the Heaven that is our eternal home.  

We tell you all about how this happens in Book 3 ("Return from Rainbow Bridge") in my story that I write from Heaven where I find I have some important decisions to make... We're working on developing this information further in our upcoming book/s!  

PawPrints from Heaven: How to Communicate with Pets in the Afterlife will be ready by the end of this Summer! We can't wait to share it with you! 

Love,  Jack 🐾

Keep reading. We are working to answer all these questions and remove all doubt from your mind. Believe! You will meet again one day. You'll see! 💗

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and all other Amazon Locations Worldwide!!! 

The Importance of Sleep - The Healing Power of Dreaming

“I’ve been watching over her one year six months in Earth Time. I have witnessed her tears, her rage and the depths of her sadness. For nights on end I have endured her loneliness and despair in the times when she felt I had forsaken her.  In vain I have reached out to her when she felt most alone. She thought she’d never be happy again.  She didn’t believe she could go on living.  But she did.  Humans do.  She is only human after all.” (Jack McAfghan: Letters from Rainbow Bridge - Chapter 7)

Grief is a very personal thing, but it has a fairly predictable course. First she had to go through the Denial phase. She was in shock, much like someone who has been involved in a serious accident or trauma who keeps saying, ‘this can’t be happening. This can’t be happening to me’. It’s part of grief. 

When someone experiences a great trauma, they go into shock as a survival tactic. Everything goes numb. The person is overwhelmed and the details of life seem meaningless. The mind when it is in this state is not capable of learning, understanding, grasping. The emotions remain submerged, hidden away until the person is ready to start feeling them again. It is the body’s way of healing itself, by protecting the one grieving from the full awareness of the hurt, the pain, the suffering, the change and the devastating loss.

Typically the person goes into hibernation – living life on a type of autopilot until enough healing has taken place to resume somewhat normal functioning… Often this time is filled with restlessness; perhaps even insomnia. 

Healing cannot take place without deep sleep, for the greatest healing takes place when we shut our awareness down and let our natural innate healing abilities take over.   Dreams are an important part of sleep and only in our deepest sleep can the dreams come. Dreams are the meeting places of the soul and it’s where we meet with you to work through things. You don’t actually need to remember the dream for it to help you. Some of you are still waiting for the dream that will change your life. Ask for it, you might get it. Be sure, also, to ask to remember it too, for it is quite possible to have a dream one night and not be able to remember it the next morning. Keep in mind that your subconscious mind is processing and learning even when your conscious mind is asleep. As Kate taught me, I now teach her. Don’t beg! You need to relax about it to have the space to let it in. Just have faith and I will come to you in a way that means something to you and me. Don’t forget to breathe.

Love, Jack 🐾

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♥️

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.

Dear Jack...Many of My Friends Just Don’t Seem to Care

This is one of the many things your pets come to teach. Many of you have found out who your truest friends are as you work through your grief. Who can you turn to? Are you surprised who is there? Are you surprised who is not? One of the things we teach you in our departure is to open your eyes to see Who Is Really There for you. Who loves and supports you through it all? This is a true friend. Meanwhile, we still love you from the other side with a love that never dies.

Love, Jack 🐾

From the book: Jack McAfghan: Letters from Rainbow Bridge

Gone Only From View: A Love Poem

 Do you think that I am far from you?

 I feel your thoughts, I know your heart.

I am not far away at all. I'm closer than you would believe! 

You think if you stop grieving that you will somehow lose me.

You're afraid that if you love again,

That you will grow away from me.

You can never lose me!

Your soul has grown right into mine.

Spun together; 

A tapestry of our life and love. 

You cannot lose what has become

A vital part of you. 

Someday you'll see that I was with you all along the way.

You'll then regret the time you spent

Wasting many thoughtful tears

And grieving for so many years!

But while you cannot see that now,

You'll find out what you think you lost

You never lost at all.

I am merely gone from view. 

I am here;

I'm here beside you

Waiting for the Chosen Time

When you will see and touch and feel me

As I run into your arms again. 

by Jack McAfghan and Kate

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.  

Holidays and Grief: The Anniversaries of the Heart

ONLY GONE FROM YOUR SIGHT: 

A PERSONAL APPROACH TO HUMAN GRIEF & LOSS

 

Chapter 38 

HOLIDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES 

 

Every grieving mother knows how old her child would be today. You probably know how old I would be now and how long I’ve been gone. The heart remembers everything. You are connected to me by the love that we share, a love that tugs at your heartstrings at special times. You might find yourself thinking about me continuously one day. You just can’t get me out of your mind! Maybe you even have a dream of me or receive an extraordinary sign. You look at the calendar and realize that it is the anniversary of my passing or my birthday. The heart remembers everything. 

 

“One day without him...” 

“He was still here this time last week.” 

“I’ve made it through the first two weeks.” 

“I can’t believe she’s been gone a month.” 

“It’s been 2 months, 2 days, 7 hours, 35 minutes.” 

“3 months have passed now.” 

“4 months.” 

“5 months...152 days” 

“I’m coming up on 6 months.” 

“It’s my first holiday alone.” 

“This would have been her birthday.” 

 

We’ve been through one round of all the anniversaries of the heart. 365 days of “first times.” Oh, but it’s still complicated isn’t it? Leaving the first year behind, it’s like we lose that too.

The anniversaries will keep coming. There will be days when you just aren’t feeling so strong. Maybe you go a park or a restaurant where we used to go and even though you might have a new friend with you, you are filled with tears and memories of our days together. It’s okay. Let them come. Those were the days my friend... 

 

Creating new traditions is a very good way to move forward, to honor me and to honor the special days of the year. Sometimes you need to create new traditions for yourself when you are faced with loss---or if you are struggling with family issues and disappointments. 

 

Anniversaries and holidays can be difficult at best when your life feels empty or incomplete. One of the things you can do for yourself during these times is to celebrate the life we shared. Do not mourn my loss. Celebrate my life. Create a lovely altar, light a candle. Say your prayers. Invite me to visit you. Talk to me. Tell me about your hopes and dreams. Reflect on the good times. Tell me you love me over and over again. 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 our love. Know that love never dies. 

 

When you are visiting people over the holidays who might not understand what you are going through, take something tangible and subtle with you; something that you can wear or hold in your hand when you are you are longing to be with me instead of them. It's okay to talk about it if it feels like the right thing to do for you. It’s okay to not want to talk about too. Just tell them that. It can also be quite handy to excuse yourself so you can go to bed early. That's okay to a point too. You have a very good reason and you are learning at last to take care of yourself. Balance the holiday and try to stay balanced within yourself as you move forward to the next anniversary without me. 

 

Balance is the key to all healing. Time and support will take care of the rest. 

When you are surrounded by joy and celebration it can actually make you feel worse when you feel worse. If you want to avoid parties and celebrations altogether you can volunteer at a soup kitchen or some other charity event. It often helps one to feel better when they help people less fortunate. You can also opt to stay home, but I will be hoping that one day you will be willing to share the holiday with someone you love and trust. Someone who lets you be you. Go easy on yourself. 

 

"The first of every month would loom ominously. She braced herself every time a new month approached. The August 1 anniversary was tough. Then a funny thing happened. December 1 arrived; sixteen months. The day came and went. On December 2 she realized she had not noticed. She felt guilty at first until she realized it was a sign of her healing. My life was the important thing and our relationship, now on new terms, was all that mattered. She forgot February 1 too! And March! She didn’t remember until after a whole week had passed! Who knew what would happen on April Fool’s Day? Well! She fooled me and remembered! This is how it will happen for you too, in your own time and in your own way."
Return from Rainbow Bridge, Chapter 62

The Spirit that Moves Us to Love Again

It's okay to get another pet if the spirit moves you. 

Don't you know, I am the spirit that moves you?

You can't replace me, but you can bring in a new kind of love. You've had her now for almost three months. You see her healing. You feel yourself healing too. It has taken this long for you to trust each other. She no longer runs from you. She comes to you seeking love. You are healed enough now, to give her everything and more. But I know. I know you still love me. I still see you cry when you don't think you have everything, but you do. You do have everything.

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