The Spiritual Presence of Animals: Navigating Grief and Connection After Pet Loss

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey everyone, on this week's episode of Whispers from the Mist, Conversations from the Spiritual Byway, we are going to be talking about something many of us experience, but we don't always speak about openly. And that would be grieving the loss of a beloved pet. Our companions that walk beside us and walk through seasons of our lives, they offer their presence, their loyalty, and unconditional love. So today, we're exploring that bond and then the grief that follows and the spiritual connection that may continue long after they say goodbye. Let's start the episode. Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode of Whispers from the Mist, Conversations from the Spiritual Byway. I am Michelle, and on my journey today, I have Stacy. Hi, Stacy. Hello, Michelle, and hello, everybody. What are we going to talk about today? Animals. I love this topic. I really do. And it could be because I'm walking through this right now, trying to sort out my feelings about losing an animal. And I know it's been present or tiptoed around or talked about in previous episodes, but today I think we're going to just do a deep dive into our family pets and what happens when they're with us and then when we lose them. Because I'll tell you, this has turned my world upside down.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

Yeah. It and it it does. A little, a little most, I'm going to say relatively unknown fact is there have been studies done on the relationship between families and their pets. And the loss of a pet is ranked up there close to the loss of a very, very close family member. And they compared it to, I think, like an aunt or an uncle that was involved in life the entire life. So I think one of the things that happens is when someone loses a pet to a lot of people who may not be avid pet owners, well, it was just an animal. And I know we say that loosely, but realistically, it's a member of the family that you see literally every day. And you live life, you know, coinciding with them. So it's a lot harder than I think most people realize.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

And I will say, until I walked a mile in my own shoes recently, I might not have understood exactly what it means to lose a pet because I didn't growing up, I had pets, but when that time came, I was in a place of transition in my life. I was moving on to college or getting married or something like that. So my parents dealt with the end-of-life things. And it wasn't up to me until recently. And I think this one just hits so incredibly hard because of A, the age of the dog, B, the sudden nature of it, and C, finally having to make that quality of life decision that I don't want to make for anybody. And I've had to make it for my dog. And the guilt that I carry with that drowns me at times. Yeah. Especially today, because today, synchronically, or however you want to say it, is the three-month anniversary of her passing. Oh. I know. And I don't want this to be a sad episode. I want to celebrate our pets and the lives, but part of that celebration is the grieving of it too. And I know I went somewhere the other day and someone said to me, because the dog came up, she's like, Oh, it's been about a year now. And I said, No, almost three months. I'm still counting in months. I haven't gone beyond that yet. Right.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

And and once and and it doesn't matter how long the loss is, when you look back, it still hurts like it did the first day. I mean, it has been several years since I lost, you know, my great Dane. And it was very sudden. But I look back at pictures that pop up and I just miss, I miss him. I miss him dearly because he was such a significant part of my life. So I don't think it, you know, time heals certainly. Time, time helps you process through, time allows you to continue to live. It's just not as it's, it doesn't just heal though. It doesn't just get rid of the the pain that will always be there.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

No, and it's weird at those moments that you step into it. It was the other night going to bed, and all of a sudden she came through again. And at first I didn't recognize it. And then I got her out. I'm like, oh, it's rip right now. Sure enough, she went out and got the water outside and came back in. That's all she wanted. And for me, that then just started me panicking a little bit. Like, we're coming up on three months of this. And do I still remember what it felt like to sit in her presence, that energy of her, the quirky things that she did? And I found myself trying to grasp onto those memories and reset them or something so I could hold on to them longer because I'm so afraid of losing the feeling of her.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Right. Which I I can understand that because you do, like I said, you do get this comfortable ability to step into memories sometimes, but those memories don't always feel oh my gosh, what's the word? Authentic as you get further and further away from them. So I I can understand that.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah. So we do have her ashes in like a candle. And there is a lit plastic candle. So it's just battery operated and it stays on all the time. It's like this eternal light in our house. And at night before I go to bed, I usually lift it up, hold it to my heart. But when I lift it up, I still feel the energy in there. I still feel that zing of connection as if she was sitting next to me. So I still have I still have that. And I have her visits and I have her little things that she does around the house to let me know she's here. So it makes the grieving process, I don't know, more complicated. More complicated. Yeah. Because I'm so happy to have them. Right. I would not want that. But right.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

It's helpful on the one hand for absolute certainty. And then there's this part on the other hand where you wonder if I didn't have this energy, if I didn't feel this, would it be easier for me to process through the loss? Or would I still be looking for those signs? And I think that this is what we do when we're grieving people as well, is we we lose someone and we are constantly looking for a sign that they're here with us, that, you know, maybe they're thinking of us. And, you know, interestingly, over the summer, not not interestingly, but I lost, I lost my uncle, my great uncle. And he he was probably the closest family that we had here because he and my aunt would visit us quite regularly. And a couple months after that, I was calling my mom. And my mom is saved in my phone as Ma the Queen of All, which is just kind of a joke in the family. And so I said, hey, you know, I asked my phone to call Ma the Queen of All, and it called my uncle instead. And it's happened only twice. And my maiden name is very specific and not easy to replicate for, you know, the phone. So it was very interesting that it immediately went to call him. And so I stopped and I took a moment and I just said, you know, hey, you know, I I I can tell you're here with me. Thank you for, thank you for the sign. And I just I took that moment of process. It's, it's, I realize I'm talking about my uncle and not an animal, but it's the same, it's the same processing through loss either way, because you're kind of you step into these moments of of very deep spirituality, and you have this choice of do I step into it and feel the feelings, or do I allow my emotions to get muddled and not feel the feelings? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 8:22

It does make sense. And I love that you shared that because that's important too. Uh losing loved ones, I am looking for those signs all the time, also. And I think there is a whole episode here on just that. And I really think, and this is a side note, there is an episode on death too. I recently had a minor surgery and I had to be put under, which I don't know, I haven't been put under in years. So I was a little bit hesitant about that because they always make you sign the waiver just in case. And as I'm signing the waiver and I'm listening to everything they said, I realized finally I'm not afraid of dying anymore. I used to have such a fear of it, it would keep me up at night. But I have gotten to a place where I'm not afraid of dying. What I realize I'm afraid of is missing out on all the things I still want to see, like with my family, with my friends, with my animals, and just to see how their story plays out. Right. And I found that to be a very profound moment. And I'm like, we've got to do an episode dying. Absolutely. As something depressive, but as something like to embrace or to think about and to see it as a possible continuation.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Right. And and we all know that my favorite card in the tarot deck is death for many, many reasons. But I will also share with you that you're like going through that minor surgery. My husband went through one very similar last year. And I remember the day or two leading up to it, he was talking about what happens if I die, what happens if I don't make it through this. And I remember looking at him going, I have full faith that you will. But if you want to talk about it and you want to step into that fear for a few moments just to process through it, we can do that. But I am not worried. And, you know, I think going into it, him having that solid backup was was very helpful. And I think, you know, kind of leading us back into today's topic, we do that with our animals too. We see them as infallible. We see them as these beautiful creatures that are always going to be there. And I know when I lost, you know, going back to my great Dane, very similar to how how you lost your baby, your puppy, it was very sudden. Very, very, very sudden. He got very sick one night and the next day, it it was not a choice. He was 10, he was a 10-year-old purebred Great Dane. And when we went to the vet, they they gave us like this offer of doing an exploratory surgery because they think he had like a uh an unknown form of cancer that burst in his stomach and it just was attacking him. He was internally bleeding. We knew that through his gums. And I looked at the vet and said, I am not going to put my 10-year-old great Dane through a surgery that he most likely will not make it through. And she was like, Well, she said, that that's, you know, I have to give you all of our options. The other option is, you know, putting him, putting him to sleep. So we went for the comfort, which was putting him to sleep, but everything happened so suddenly that it it was such a jarring experience for me that I couldn't function for almost a week because it was so sudden. And even now it's making me kind of choke up, but it was so sudden. And it the loss was so big in my life that I didn't think that I would be okay. And so I remember looking, it was I was with my ex-husband at the time and saying, I'm never, ever getting another dog. It's I'm not doing it. I'm not doing this pain again. I won't do it. I swear them off. And as we all know, that didn't last because I think he knew I needed something to help me heal. And when I saw Astrid's face, I had a friend that was fostering and I looked at her face on the website and I said, I could actually, I could have this dog in my life. And everything worked and unfolded so perfectly in a way that I hadn't expected it to because I knew the foster mom and she had been to our home in the past. Like they waved a lot of different things. And within a week, she she had moved in. And I truly believe that Chevy, my my great dane, knew that I needed Astrid to help me move forward in my grief.

SPEAKER_00 13:00

So that makes sense. And that was a question I was gonna ask is do you think Chevy helped Astrid find your home?

SPEAKER_01 13:07

I I think that he is the reason she's part of my life because she and I have always been so connected. And she's, I mean, she's very connected with my my husband as well. Like she it took her a little while when he and I first got married to connect with him, but sh he knows her. And like she can walk across the room and need something and not even like demonstrate that she needs something. And he's like, Oh, she needs XYZ. And next thing you know, like he's he's on it and taking care of her just because there's this weird, like intense connection that I think we both needed. And I do. I think I think Chevy is the reason that she ended up here.

SPEAKER_00 13:47

I love that. That's so beautiful. I think we're around the passing of my dog rip, I have so much guilt still associated with it. Like if that morning had just gone a little different. I, you know, remember glimpses of it. I'm so hard on myself because one of my humans in my life had had surgery the day before. I hadn't slept. I was very tired in the morning. And here I have this dog jumping around. She's so excited. And I'm like, would you just give me a second? So I immediately stepped into frustration with her. And I felt so bad even in that moment. Right. And then as we were taking her to where we were gonna exercise her, I stepped immediately into, gosh, Michelle, you got frustrated. That was really selfish because wouldn't you love to have something in your life that made you so incredibly happy that you woke up feeling that way? Which I do, I have a lot of happy things in my life. Just that morning, I was tired. Right. And then I remember thinking, I wish my dad was here right now because he would love to watch her run and retrieve like she did. And then even while she was retrieving, she brought it back to me and I'm like, you're looking a little tired. And what if I had just paused in that moment and said, let's go get back in the car? And said I threw it and because she lived for it, like that was who she was. And then everything else unfolded. We did take her to a specialist. They said there's nothing we could do. This is the worst case of FES, which is like basically, I'm sorry, F C S, which is basically like a type of stroke in a dog, and worst case scenario. And so then it was a quality of life decision, which I made, and I'm the one that took her in there to do it. And so I feel a lot of guilt around that, but I also feel like I did the right thing. And I keep picturing her face, like right before she went into it. She was so stoic. And even though she had no use of her back leg, she had to be assisted, she would not let them wheel her in on a cart. She locked herself in to the best of her ability with assistance, but she wasn't carted in. And she came over to me and I'm like, I'm such a crappy human. And so I guess this is a sad part of it. But I mean, that's kind of where I've been stuck. And I think these visits from her, these reassurances from her, her letting us know she's still there is her way to say she's okay. Yeah. And I have brought in, I have a friend who is an animal communicator, and that was so incredibly helpful. She's like, What's the deal with butterflies? She said you butterflies. I'm like, I know. And I was out on a walk, and yeah, you can see butterflies anywhere. But this particular one, I'm like, I think Rip sent you. And then she told me that.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

Just listening to your story, one thing that's really sticking out to me that I wanted to kind of point out is when everything went down, she was doing what she loved. And I don't think there is a better way to, I don't want to say start to leave this world, but to to start to leave this world is that's the only language that I can come up with. But she was doing what she loved, and that is beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 16:51

She absolutely was, and that brings comfort too. I mean, even after it happened, she was still trying to get the retriever dummy back to us. And I'm like, no, stop, stop. And so I ran to her, but she was absolutely doing what she loved. And so then my friend Leslie, our friend Leslie, because you know her, was able to give me comfort. But I have also reached out to another psychic medium, just kind of curious if she would come through. And it was very interesting because some of the things during the reading about the humans, they didn't stick well. Like there were traces there that I could say or assign to someone. Yeah. And then she got to my dog and the tears came. And I'm wondering why is that? But she nailed it. She's like, did she lose like use of legs in the end? Did this happen? I'm like, yes, all that happened. So that felt like validation too.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

John Edward, in an interview I saw, did say that he'll do these readings and he'll have loved ones coming, loved ones coming in, and finally a dog will come in. And the person gets more emotional about the dog. Yes. And I wonder why that is. I mean, I have a whole list here of qualities that animals bring into our lives and why they are so unconditionally loved.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

Well, I I and it goes, I think too, before we get into your list because I want to hear it, I think it also goes back to that steady constant that you have in your life that animals, not just dogs, bring into it. You know, it I think you and I were briefly talking before we jumped into this episode, but I have a bird. We have a bird, we have a green-cheeked coneur named Enigo that lives with us, obviously. And he is, he is all personality and he's an absolute riot. And it took me probably two weeks, I'm gonna say, to get used to the sounds that he makes because he squawks and he talks and he does all of these different things. And I did not grow up with birds, never had them growing up. My husband did. I, I, it's all new to me. And it took me weeks, but now it's such a norm. It's it's a norm in the house to hear him talking and to hear him doing his things. And and when we're in the kitchen and he's watching us cook, he's going, you know, what you doing? What you doing? And like you get used to it. And like he's he's a part of the family, and you just get used to those constants. There's joy. It's so funny because I was in the I was cooking breakfast this morning and he's standing there going, Hey Bertie. Wow. And so like you're in the middle of cooking, and all of a sudden you have this little little thing in in like it to your back that's just going, wow. And it almost feels like he's celebrating your little like what you're doing. Like, ooh, you flipped an egg.

unknown 19:40

Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

I'm your cheerleader. Well, I did look up one of the things I looked up were the five most spiritually connected pets that we can have. And birds were definitely on that list because they bring in joy. They are so high energy, and they want to communicate with you.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

So they're company, they're good company. Do you want to guess what the other animals might be? Uh cats. Cats are on there, yep.

SPEAKER_01 20:13

Yep. And I would say definitely dogs. Definitely dogs. Birds. Birds, yes. I know you told me this before we jumped in. I think we went over the list, and I was surprised by one of them. Reptiles, reptiles? Turtles. Okay. And fish. Yeah. You can't see her. But Michelle just held up her hands and pretended to be a fish. Yeah. So fish in those I find the most bizarre and interesting ones on the list. And I know we had fish tanks here for a while, and my husband loved, loved taking care of his fish. But he liked the snails more than the fish themselves. Like he, because the snails actually, you could see a little personality in them. They would like float up to the top and then like drop to the bottom and like bubble everywhere. But I I'm curious, and I'm hoping that maybe a listener can chime in that might have fish and might have this affinity towards, you know, that spiritual attachment that we get to our pets. Talk to me about fish. I want to know more. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Well, what they say about fish is they glide. So they bring in a very calm energy, they bring in beauty, they bring you in to a glimpse of a world we don't get to see because without that glass, we don't know what fish look like swimming under the water. That's very true. Okay. Yeah. So it's pretty cool. They're very low maintenance. And again, it comes back to that quiet observation of them.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Interesting. Because I mean, they are very calming. And I know that's actually why they they they have fish a lot of times in like dentists' office and things like that, because they they have found that they calm people down so much.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

I would say. Yeah, between a bird and a fish, fish would definitely calm me down. A bird would have me running in the opposite direction because they're unpredictable and they freak me out a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Well, I I would say honestly, having fish in in like any sort of doctor's office is it seems very normal. But when you when you threw bird in there right after I said that, I was like, no, a bird would not be calming in any like don't I love I love Inigo. He is the coolest bird ever and he cracks me up. But there is no calm that he necessarily brings into the he brings energy. Like he brings this like sense of yeah, and and like fire almost. Where if I'm going into a doctor's office and there's a bird squawking in the corner, I'm gonna be like, oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Like waiting to be called back. Yeah. Oh yeah, no, not for a doctor's office. Quickly, we'll look at turtles and why turtles make such great pets that people get connected to. They encourage people to really slow down, to find a steady pace that works for them. They have longevity of life and they're perceived to be pretty patient. Okay.

unknown 23:15

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

I could use a lesson in patience in my life, but probably not with a turtle because their turtles' longevity, I think, is is like they they can live to be very, very old too. And I think that this is it's um an interesting thing to be looking at when, you know, because we did just talk about the loss of animals and things along those lines. When I look at like Inigo, for example, he's eight. He can live to be 20, 22 years old. So when you look at that and you're thinking about, you know, a teenager adopting, let's say, you know, you're 17 and you really want, you know, a pet bird or a pet tortoise or or something along those lines, and they can live 20 plus years, you're not thinking, where am I gonna be in 10 years, you know, at 17, 18 years old. When I think that's one of the biggest reasons why a lot of animals end up getting rehomed, not because of malice or or I can't ha handle this this anymore. It's because I'm at a point in my life where perhaps I'm renting an apartment and I'm not allowed to have pets or I'm not, there are rules against it. So now I have to choose do I move out on my own and and establish my own identity, or do I stay back because I've adopted an animal that's going to live for 20 plus years. That's true. You know, it's it's an interesting little conundrum.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Definitely. So those are the three spiritual animals that I don't know a lot about. We did mention cats, and I am horrifically allergic to cats. I don't spend a lot of time with them. I could talk to you about their mannerisms, but you have cats. So why don't you tell us about why a cat would speak to your soul and be considered spiritual?

SPEAKER_01 25:10

So cats are interesting, and and I know historically, like if you go back and study ancient Egypt, like they come up a lot. One of the most so we we have two cats. We have Chaos. Initially, her name was Stella, and Butt Butt. And initially Butt Butt's name was Tinsel. Um, they are not known by by those initial names because they just were named after their personalities after a while. But cats are actually very healing. And one of the most interesting things that I think I have learned in having cats for as long as I have is when I don't feel well, that is when they snuggle. They will lay on top of me and purr. And for those that have any knowledge whatsoever of vibrations, sound healing, anything along those lines, it's the vibrations in the sounds that you're actually looking for that do the healing. So for a cat to be that connected to a human and lay on top of them and purr, it's their way of saying, I can tell you don't feel well. I want to heal you. And they spend a lot of time studying their humans and getting to know mannerisms and things along those lines. And I know chaos, when she first moved in, would wake me up periodically throughout the night because cats don't sleep as deeply as humans. So when we are in a deep, deep sleep, they actually think that we're dead. So it freaks them out and they wake us up because they're like, oh no, this is my person. I need to know that they're okay. But they are also known to see spirits. Cats and dogs do the same thing. They'll be staring into nothingness. And and, you know, there have been moments where chaos will be staring at something, and my husband will look at me and be like, Stacy, is there's is there something here? And I'll look over and be like, No, no, she probably sees something like something small that we can't see, but it's not, it's not spiritual. But she does, she does mark that for us a lot.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Yeah, they are known to be protectors of their location and keeping negative energy out of a space. Yeah. I think they're beautiful creatures. I just my eyes, my throat do not think they're that.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

Well, I won't have you over because chaos loves everybody that comes in the door.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

So And isn't that always the case? I know when I go to my son's house, he has two cats and they always come to me. And I like they know the person that's allergic. Yeah, you're beautiful, but if I pet you, I'm gonna be sneezing for the next day or until I can get into a shower.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Animals are funny too, because the other thing that they know is if you don't like a certain type of animal, they won't leave you alone.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:59

If something about them annoys you, they will do it more. My my dog, Asprin is a drive-by licker. She licks people inside, like, and it is the I've never had a dog that was quite as licky as she is, but it's to the point where she knows if it annoys you and will drive by and lick while she's running by. Like, I call them drive-by licks because that's hilarious. It's so like it's so funny, but it annoys people so much. And it's like she she knows the people that she does she does it to very intentionally. And there's one friend of mine that I'm thinking of, like, she will not leave her alone when she's in my house. She just like she'll look her socks, she'll look her hands, she'll look everything. And initially, when when I rescued her, I learned because she's she's a husky mix. I learned that it's a husky trait to lick because that's how they get to know people and things. But she has tempered that quite a bit over the years. But with two particular people, she does not leave them alone when it comes to licking. Like she'll look at the tips of their fingers. She likes, like I said, drive-by licking with the socks. Like, and it's looking at it when she's not doing it, it's hysterical. But in the moment, I'm like, Astrid, can you can we be polite? Like, can we give our guests just a little bit of space, please?

SPEAKER_00 29:21

I'm finding this hilarious because our dog Bex, my husband calls her tongue because she is such a licker, and he'll accept it and he'll be like, oh, come here. And I'm like, no, stop. I hate that, you know. But then I try to be sensitive and think, well, that's how her mom showed her comfort. And so she's just showing love. But yet there's something about the texture of it, and also I am a little bit allergic to dogs too, so I will occasionally get welts from it. Oh my god. I'm just like, I'm not a fan, but yeah, he calls her tongue. So well, we all know that cats are really solitary animals, where dogs are more pack animals. And dogs bring a lot of spirituality into your home also, and they can connect with you on such a deeper level because they have deep empathy.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 30:14

They are all about unconditional love. In my house, nobody is excited to see me as my dog is. Not my kids, not my parents, not my husband, not my friends, but my dog is always excited to see me.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

None of my friends accidentally piddle on the floor when I walk into a room, whereas it's happened, you know, a few times with dogs because they just get so excited.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

And I don't even mind cleaning it up because I'm like, oh, because you're happy to see me. Um dogs tend to absorb a human's emotions and their energy. They can often mirror you in your emotions by the sense of smell, by just having paid attention, knowing your features, knowing you're holding something different. They are truly lessons in love. And maybe perhaps even one of those spirit guides that you're working with.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Well, and dogs have been known to show illness before we are even aware of it, too. There have been numerous times where a dog has alerted someone to cancer, um, alerted somebody to early pregnancy, alert, like because they they just can smell the difference in hormones in in people. And, you know, that's where they they tend to alert a lot more.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

Definitely. And, you know, I wanted to say too, they're as you were talking about cancer alerting to it, they are energetic healers and they are watching you emotionally and energetically at all the time. And again, I think being a mere is the best description I can give.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

They are showing because they love you so much. And they are showing to them, they're reflecting it.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

They know what you need. And and it's very interesting. And and now that that we're kind of talking about that a little bit more, I can share a short little story. Last night I fell asleep on the couch, which I do sometimes. Whenever I have a really hard time falling asleep because my brain is going, I will often go into our living room and put a Disney movie on, like something that I know that I grew up with, a safe, like, I know all of the words, I know all of the pictures in my mind. Like it's easy for me to just hear and it distracts my brain enough. So usually when I do that, I'll fall asleep and the entire movie will play out. But I fell asleep within like 15, 20 minutes last night of a Disney movie that I had put on. And my husband told me this morning that Astrid went into the bedroom and licked him until he was awake and then essentially kept alerting him to get up because I was uh on the couch asleep. So he got up after less than half an hour of me actually being asleep and brought me into the bedroom to go to to go to bed. And it was really interesting. And to me, it's fascinating because she's never done that before. Usually she'll just chill with me on the couch. But last night she was like, no, mom needs to be in bed tonight. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Yeah. Just cute little everybody together. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, they're pretty special. And when you lose it or it transitions into another way or another form of being, it's so hard. And as humans, we then have to step into the grieving process. And I think it's important to remember that when you lose a pet or a loved one, like we're talking about pets today, but really a loved one, grief has no boundaries. You're not gonna go down one specific path or think that you're gonna grieve the same way someone else is. So grieve without judgment. Be sure to acknowledge and talk about the pain that you're feeling. You can also honor their memories through things such as memorials or perhaps make a donation in their name.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 34:07

Um you can seek support from other people. Be patient with yourself. This one is so important for me right now. Manage my own guilt. Be sure to pay attention to your other pets because they're grieving also. And consider new companionship. The possibility of when you're ready. I will share that we have put down a deposit on another dog, and I feel like we're moving a little bit quickly, and I'm not quite ready, but this particular mother of the dog was our dog whose past 100% sister, same litter.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

So it would be like her niece or nephew.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

So that feels to me. That feels to me like, you know, one of those almost me finding asteroid. It's meant it, it's meant to be, you know. It's meant to be. I I love that. I it and you know, I I think even if it feels a little quick, I feel like it's gonna help you, you heal a little bit more. And that's, you know, in itself a beautiful thing. I again, I swore off dogs after I lost, after I lost Chevy. And I don't know how I'm gonna be when something happens with Astrid. I I'm gonna be, I know I'm gonna be a hot mesh. But the reason that we choose to put ourselves in those positions, I think it's because of the connection that we end up having with our loved ones, our pets. They're they're a part of our home. You know, they they become a vital part of our daily life. And, you know, it's sometimes challenging because you have to come up with plans whenever you want to travel or whenever whenever you're doing anything. But at the same time, you want the best for them just like they want the best for you.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

And that's so true. And I know with this particular new puppy or possibility of a puppy, I'm very excited about it, but I'm very conflicted for that reason. Uh, I don't want to go through this again. No. So that's kind of where I'm sitting with that. I would like to leave our listeners before we close out this episode with a couple things that maybe they can do to try to establish contact with their lost pet or loved one. I'm sure it will work in either scenario, but we'll get to anything has to do with the water dish.

SPEAKER_01 36:18

Don't put a water dish out for grandma. Just throw me out of it.

SPEAKER_00 36:21

No water dish. No. But the the first thing that I think someone should do if they're trying to connect with a pet whose past is be intentional about it. Be heartfelt. When you're walking through the house, even if you know they can't hear you or you think they can't hear you, talk to them.

SPEAKER_01 36:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:41

Or write them a letter. Or meditate. Ask for signs. Like I do all of that. And then stay open for how they're gonna reveal themselves to you. Be definitely, I think staying open is key. Yeah. Yeah. You might be expecting a butterfly and you're gonna get a dung beetle. I don't know, a dung beetle or something like that. But you're gonna know in the moment because it's gonna make sense to you. Right. You know, keep a photo out of them, have a little memorial for them or a little um altar, which I kind of do. I feel like that's where her candle is. And then you can also reach out to someone like an animal communicator to help you connect.

SPEAKER_01 37:26

It's very true. And there are some really good animal communicators out there. And, you know, I I love just stay open. And, you know, if there's something that they loved, you can keep that and, you know, pay attention to it every once in a while and just acknowledge how much they loved it. Like I know with Chevy, he loves those lamb chop little stuff stuffies. He would carry them everywhere. And so when we rescued Astrid, I I would not buy her one. She she will never have one in in my house. Not because I don't think she does she, she has a bunch of toys, but it meant so much to him that that's kind of like every time I walk into a pet store and I see one, it immediately gives me this feeling of like his energy. So yeah, that's part of your sacred connection with that particular dog. And let us know. Share with us how you connect and and share stories with us. We would love to revisit this in a future episode with your stories and your input because I think I think our listeners, you know, we value you so much and we really do enjoy getting messages from you.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

We really do. And I don't know if you can hear it. I definitely can, but my dog's going berserk outside my office right now. So maybe that's her just saying hi and share your stories. Yeah. Um, I do also want to share real quick because if we didn't touch on your animal, it doesn't mean it's not the perfect animal for you. Two that I can quickly think of that we didn't touch on rabbits. A lot of people have rabbits in their home. Those are associated with sensitivity, gentleness, and grace. And even though these are bigger animals, a horse. A horse is so healing. It's used in so many therapeutic environments to help people. So you gotta do an episode on spirit animals too.

SPEAKER_01 39:24

Yeah, we'll have to. I think that would be a fun one.

SPEAKER_00 39:26

Yeah, listeners, another call to action. Yeah. Share like uh an animal that you want to know a little bit more about spiritually, like qualities and stuff and what they represent. Because I please do. Please do. Yeah. Okay, well, I'm gonna leave the listeners with three closing questions. Something to think about until we meet again. Again, you can journal these, you can send us your thoughts on these, or you can just sit with them for a moment. But here you go. Here's question number one. What did the presence of your pet teach you about love, loyalty, and being present? Oh, that's a good one. Number two, when you think about your animal now, what memory brings you warmth? And the third one, how does your shifted connection with your animal live on for you in quiet ways? I love those. I do too. So until next time, Stacey, shall we close this episode out?

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Absolutely stay curious, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 40:29

Trust what you notice, and we will meet you along the spiritual byway. Until next time, bye. Thank you so much. Or I'll start with the thing, and thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us. Wherever you are here to me right now, just know. You're not alone. We're here for you, and we're all in this together.