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Overview
It was a difficult year. Her doctor diagnosed her with dementia caregiver burnout, while she was also experiencing workplace stress. And Toby, an elderly dog with colitis, became lame and then was dying. He died alone with her in her room.
Debra lost two beloved canine companions in less than six years. Farley was the first and Toby was the second. The way she grieved the death of each one was so different, and she needed to understand why. She immersed herself in researching pet loss, death and dying, and grief and the bereavement process. She gave herself two years to complete her research and then write a book about what she had learned.
Then, she unexpectedly won a book publishing package with the publisher she had originally intended to use. Being an early riser, she was the first person who correctly answered a trivia question. The catch? She had to submit a manuscript within a month to claim the prize. The problem? She didn't have a manuscript, and she had never written a book before.
It would be a daunting task. Her first thought was, "There is no way I can do this." Her second thought was, "What have I got to lose?" The worst-case scenario was she wouldn't complete a manuscript and submit it by the deadline.
With her original book idea a year off from completion, she put it on the back burner and started a new book. She was up for the challenge and ready to do this. She hit the ground running at a snail's pace. She was still dealing with some cognitive deficits, caused by prolonged stress that affected her brain functioning.
For the first two weeks, she wrote nothing of use. This was not because of a lack of trying. She couldn't pull things together in her mind. There was no outline, and her thoughts and ideas were fragmented. And then two weeks into writing, early on a Friday evening, her creative brain kicked in.
The memories of her relationship with each dog, and the experiences they shared flooded her mind. Her pen couldn't write fast enough to record her thoughts and feelings. She wrote about what each dog had taught her through the different stages of their lives, and how she learned to read their behavior and body language.
She wrote of their lives and their deaths, and how she grieved each. She applied the new knowledge and understanding she gained from her research to her own experiences. She learned there were different griefs she had experienced with the loss of each pet. In this book, she also shares some things she found that helped her to move through the grieving process.
This is Debra’s first published book. It is short, parsimonious, and jam-packed with as much detail as she could muster in two weeks. It’s the book she never intended to write, and the one she was meant to write.
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781647181406 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | BookLocker.com Inc |
| Publication date: | 12/25/2019 |
| Pages: | 84 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.17(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Introduction
Farley
The One
Farley and the Fear
More Steep Learning Curves
The Gazelle
The Red Rocket
Bunnies and a Soft Mouth
Dogs and Energy
Birds, Too
Farley and Toby
Becoming a Towny Dog
Co-Pilot
And Then There Were Two
Problems?
Unknown Origins
Taming of the Wild Thing
Camping: Good For One, Not the Other
Crate and Rotate
Mama Bear
Fred
The Ravages of Time
Do You See What You See?
Some Things Get Harder With Age
Bucket List
An Unexpected Ending
Toby
An Old Dog New in My Life
The Dog Next Door
The Plan
Car Rides and Walks!
Progress
The Wonder of Gas Stations?
Familiar But New
Health Problems
Prey Drive
A Change in Sleeping Arrangements
Degenerative Myelopathy
Harmony With Another Dog
A Natural Death
Nothing Left to Give
Yes or No?
Home Again
Give Him the Best
Go Pee
Turning and a Turn
Support
Two Dogs, More Than One Grief
The Different Types of Grief I Experienced
Disenfranchised Grief
Complicated Grief
Anniversary Grief
Anticipatory Grief
Normal Grief
Factors and Circumstances That Affected My Grief
Bonding
Emotional Investment
Unexpected Versus Gradual Death
The Veterinarian
Euthanasia Verses a Natural Death
Veterinary Support
Experience With Grieving
Private Versus Public Grief
Things That Helped Me While Grieving
Talking About it With Others
Journaling or Writing
Spirit Walks
Music
Connecting With Your Spirit or Spirituality
The Surge of Yang Energy
Afterward
Perfect Storm
The Animals
Cooper
About the Author