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ppy at age 12, could serve as the physical stand-in for Katie – and for all dogs who have run and bounced into Spirit.

For the Love of Dogs

(working title for three new Pearls)

Our Dog Pearl mountaintop "shoot" was June 19th - see link at bottom of page!

 

The painful yet spiritually rich experience of losing Katie, a much-loved family dog, is evolving into three new Little Pearls about living and dying, fully experiencing love and loss, and allowing one's heart to be broken open to LOVE. 

In these Pearls, Linda’s dog Mitch, a beautiful 12 year young collie mix, will be joined by rescued puppy Gracie and other dog friends to show us how animals can teach humans some valuable life lessons.

Because companion animals can enrich our lives beyond measure, we encourage you to bring them into your heart and your home whenever you can.  Rescued animals and those adopted from shelter and foster programs are especially grateful for the chance to love and be loved.

On March 12, 2008, Linda’s family had to send their beloved older dog Katie on her journey to dog heaven.  Four days later, listening to Irish pipes playing a song that went straight to her heart, Linda had a vision of Katie, running up a green mountaintop ridgeline in complete freedom and joy.  Through streaming tears, Linda realized that Katie’s best friend Mitch, still a puppy at heart, could serve as the physical stand-in for Katie – and for all dogs who have run and bounced into Spirit.

A dog who knows love is not afraid to die, even when she is sad to leave loved ones behind.  Animals instinctively know that death is a natural part of life.  Returning to Spirit is coming HOME – something we humans can learn from our animal teachers. 

This original vision has evolved in the months since Katie’s passing, as Mitch has slowly fallen in love with his new sidekick Gracie.  Katie and Gracie share several remarkably similar traits. Katie’s presence is still strong, offering a guiding paw as her family learns to go on without her physical presence and as Gracie learns her way around.  

           

The new Pearls can show a way to love that we humans often find difficult: feeling all the emotions fully and moving through them, instead of getting stuck and closing down our hearts.  Animals seem to know about letting go when it’s time, and also about welcoming someone new into their lives and hearts, even, sometimes, in the midst of grief. 

These are the Pearls as they are unfolding now:

• leaving this world with ease, knowing love itself never dies – this Pearl fulfills the vision of Katie running that mountain ridgeline, with Mitch and other beloved dogs standing in for her 
• letting go, moving through loss and learning to love anew – this one is about Mitch, an endearing character in his own right, learning to love again with his new best friend Gracie
• a twist on the common feeling that the lives of companion animals are too short, so it’s easier to not get attached to them - this Pearl offers a different way to look at the discrepancy between our life expectancy and that of animals such as dogs and cats                                                                  

When Katie was sick, Linda was walking Mitch alone and a man crossed the street to get a closer look at him (Mitch is unusually beautiful, so this happens a lot). 

We’ve all heard – and may have said ourselves – that the most difficult thing about loving dogs is that they don’t live as long as we do.  Some people never welcome another dog into their lives because it hurts too much to lose them. 

This stranger said something very different:  that WE don’t live long enough to bring all the dogs we could love into our lives.  This applies to cats and other companion animals, too. 

Changes the perspective, doesn’t it?

There are so many great animals longing for homes where they can give love and be loved.  We hope to encourage more adoptions, as many as any one of us can welcome in our own lifetime.   Let your heart be broken open to LOVE! 

 

Our Dog Pearl mountaintop "shoot" was June 19th!  Take a look!                

(this photo gallery does not return to this page unless you click back through each photo - we're working on it - please come back through your link to this page) 

Pamela Stringer, our Little Pearls intern, took candid shots of the five dogs (older big guys Mitch and Tucker, young adult Lucy and puppies Gracie and Lola) and the seven people involved in the shoot on a beautiful day.  Pamela captured the exquisite beauty of the Upper Laurel Community in Madison County, on the North Carolina/Tennessee state line.  This shoot came together quickly - what fun!  Here is Tucker, surveying the scene:

 

Don’t be dismayed at good-byes. 

A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. 

And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. 

                                 - Richard Bach from Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

All photos on this page (except Tucker and our hand/pearl logo) courtesy of Jim Stokoe

 

HOME | PORTFOLIO | WHAT'S NEW | UPCOMING PEARLS | THANKS | SPONSORS | CONTRIBUTE NOW
SHARING LITTLE PEARLS WITH THE WORLD | VIEWER FEEDBACK | ABOUT US