Grief wrapped its cold hands around my heart with the loss of my calico kitty, Miss Eliza Doolittle. But in sharing my story on episode 151, I discovered I wasn't alone and others had a tail of their own to tell about the power of pet companionship. On this episode of HIListically Speaking, I passed the microphone over to our listeners who share gratitude moments for the fur babies who left a paw print on their hearts. Whether they're purring beside us or frolicking beyond the Rainbow Bridge, we honor the laughter and love they bring into our lives, as we recount stories of the profound bonds formed between humans and their animal companions and heal in community.⁣ ⁣ CHAPTERS/KEY MOMENTS⁣ 00:00 Intro ⁣ 00:08 Healing Through Community⁣ 03:04 Juile and Champ⁣ 04:28 Bree and Moe⁣ 05:24 Amy and Bella⁣ 06:31 TC and Charlotte⁣ 07:38 Brooke and Lady⁣ 8:48 Kristin and Angie⁣ 10:18 Beverly and Coco⁣ 11:24. Hilary's closing thoughts on pet loss and love⁣ ⁣ JOIN ME FOR THE NEXT HAVENING HAPPY HOUR⁣ https://www.hilaryrusso.com/events⁣ ⁣ DOWNLOAD THE HUG IT OUT FIVE DAY CHALLENGE⁣ https://www.hilaryrusso.com/5daychallenge⁣ ⁣ CONNECT WITH HILARY⁣ https://www.instagram.com/hilaryrusso⁣ ⁣https://www.youtube.com/hilaryrusso⁣ https://www.facebook.com/hilisticallyspeaking⁣ https://www.tiktok.com/@hilisticallyspeaking⁣https://www.hilaryrusso.com/podcast⁣ ⁣Music by Lipbone Redding https://lipbone.com/⁣ ⁣ TRANSCRIPT⁣ Full transcript available on https://www.hilaryrusso.com/podcast⁣ ⁣ 00:08 - Hilary Russo (Host)⁣ The power of community is amazing, isn't it? It helps us connect, it helps us grow, it helps us learn and it helps us heal. Recently I lost my beautiful calico kitty, Miss Eliza Doolittle. Those of you who watch this podcast know that she sits right behind me on this very chair. Maybe you've seen her in commercials or in videos and if you know me personally, you've probably had a chance to sit with her for a while right here in my home. And one of the ways I found healing, after close to 19 years with her by my side, was to share her story right here HIListically Speaking, and what I learned from living with her for close to two decades. To me it was therapeutic to share with you. It felt right, as raw as it was, as real as it was and as recent as it was. It was necessary and important for my healing journey. ⁣ ⁣ 01:09⁣ What happened after I dropped episode 151 was an outpouring of HIListically Speaking listeners from listeners and fans and friends and family and strangers. I received gifts and cards and words of encouragement and kindness and stories, so many stories, your stories, and I thought what better way to share and heal than in community? After all, that's what this podcast is all about. That's what HIListically Speaking is all about those empowering conversations of trauma to triumph through health, healing and humor. Basically what it takes to be a happy and healthy grownup, because even in loss there is laughter at some point in time, don't you think it comes. It might take a while, but it's there. ⁣ ⁣ 02:10⁣ So this episode is about you and your stories. Pets that you have loved, that have made a difference in your life. Some have crossed over the Rainbow Bridge already and maybe they're hanging out with Eliza. Others showed up just at the right time and are still bringing you happiness and joy and, I hope, for a very long time. I asked you to press record and share your stories and your pictures so that we can honor those fur babies in our lives. And what came back is what you're about to hear on this episode, and it is truly inspiring and amazing. When we become pet parents, we know our time with them is short. It is likely that we will outlive them, and we know that there will be heartbreak. It's inevitable. But to love and to be loved is the real gift. ⁣ ⁣ 03:04 - Julie (Caller)⁣ Hi, this is Julie Marty-Pearson from Bakersfield, California, and I am here to share my story about my childhood dog, champ. I got Champ as a puppy when I was about 12 years old. At the time I was dealing with some difficult health issues and I ended up missing most of my 7th grade year. Champ became my best friend. He was my little buddy. Seeing most of my 7th grade year, champ became my best friend. He was my little buddy. He was there with me through all the tough days when I wasn't feeling well, when I wasn't able to see my friends and go to events and fun things like I wanted to, and Champ was there for me. ⁣ ⁣ 03:37⁣ All the way through college I lived with my parents to save money, and the day I left for grad school I had to say goodbye, even though I knew he'd be taken care of by my parents. I knew I was going to miss him. Little did I know he had snuck a little surprise in one of my boxes for me. Cut to the next day in my new apartment, unpacking all of my boxes In the middle of my books, in one box I found Champ's tennis ball. He had dropped it in the box for me and I packed it away without knowing, so that I would always have a piece of him with me. Champ passed away about six months after that. It's like he knew he'd done his job and he was okay to leave, and I still miss him every single day. ⁣ ⁣ 04:28 - Bree (Caller)⁣ I want to honor my dear sweet Moe, who just left us. In the last few weeks he wasn't a fan of everyone but he definitely loved his mama and he provided so much comfort in our bedtime snuggles, I know, when I just wasn't feeling right or was just having a day or a moment, I could retreat to my room and lay in my bed and wherever he was in the room he would just pop up and lay next to me, usually near my head. It was just kind of like a comfort, like knowing he was there for me. You know, no words needed to be exchanged and I just felt his little body vibrating with purrs and and it was sweet to know that somebody was there with me. So, moving forward, it will be a change and adjustment on how to find that comfort somewhere else, but I am grateful for the 18 years he provided me that snuggle and that love. ⁣ ⁣ 05:24 - Amy (Host)⁣ Hi, my name is Amy. I'm the host of the Grounded in Maine podcast and I just wanted to talk about my dog, Bella, who was everything to me. She was nine pounds, she was a Pomeranian, she loved everybody and she loved everything. She was the only pet I've ever had that loved going to the vet. She just loved anyone that would make a big deal of her and she just was the best thing ever. Her last year she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed trachea and she was having seizures. Oh, that was a hard year. She completely broke me when she passed away. Like I said no more dogs, I don't want to hurt like that again. And then it was the beginning of a vacation, actually, and so I took that week off and I didn't talk to anybody. I could not say the words without falling apart, crying, so I just messaged them through Facebook and that was it. And that's why I was saying, Hilary, I'm impressed that you're able to talk about that, because I still get teary and it's been six years. ⁣ ⁣ 06:31 - TC (Caller)⁣ Charlotte York McPuppy Newman. Let me be her human mom for 16 years on this earth and it's a privilege that I will never get over. I met her when she was nine weeks old and it was an instant bond and an instant love, and it was so powerful she traveled with me across the country. I mean, if dogs could have frequent flyer miles or hotel points, she would have been platinum status everywhere. ⁣ ⁣ 06:52⁣ Planes, trains, automobiles. But it was more than just the physical journeys. It was the emotional journeys. She went on with me. She saw me on the highest days when we were dancing in the kitchen, and she saw me on the lowest days when she knew just to cuddle up around me in bed because I couldn't do much more for her when she transitioned to the other side. It was one of the hardest events, the hardest times of my life, but it was so precious to get to hold her as she took her last breath. I was her mama and she was my baby, Though I will always have a Charlotte-shaped hole in my life. I see her signs everywhere Butterflies, dogs that stare at me in the eye for no reason, and I am so grateful that I got to be Miss Charlotte's mom. ⁣ ⁣ 07:38 - Brooke (Caller)⁣ Hi everyone. Two years ago I adopted a five-year-old Chiwini. Her name is Lady. She's 12 pounds and has had lots of trauma in her life. She attached to me quickly and wants to go everywhere with me all the time, which is not always possible. ⁣ ⁣ 07:52⁣ Well, years ago I had a post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis due to my upbringing and it resurfaced recently. I'll get a dump of adrenaline and a debilitating fear for no immediate threat. It makes life difficult and I started thinking between the trauma of my dog and the trauma of mine, maybe I could make this into a positive thing. So I called a dog trainer and they came over and evaluated her. She has what it takes to be a PTSD service dog. So for 120 hours we need to train. She is halfway through that and, absolutely amazing, my little dog responds to me so well and calms me. I calm her. It's kind of this leaning on each other situation, but we're making each other's lives better and with every day she learns something new, as do I. Our lives are calmer and happier because we're together all the time. So I just wanted to share that. Thank you so much. ⁣ ⁣ 08:48 - Kristin (Caller)⁣ My name's Kristen. I want to share this story about a dog I once had named Augie, who I bought from a puppy mill and on a whim one day and told myself that I was saving him from that horrible place. Augie was a beautiful black lab. At the time I was in an on-again, off-again relationship with a man I would marry and divorce in less than a year. On one of our hiatuses I secretly bought Augie because the man I loved hated dogs and was afraid of them, and I prayed that Augie would keep him away. Augie gave me a run for my money and he had not only massive amounts of energy but massive amounts of anxiety, and I'm an ICU nurse and a mom and I make a lot of hard decisions, but this was one of the hardest I've ever made. ⁣ ⁣ 09:29⁣ I decided to find Augie a new home, because not only did he not have good quality of life in our home, we didn't either Rehomed him. I found a man, a friend of my dad's, named Billy, who was like a lab whisperer. Augie snapped and he snarled at Billy and Billy stood there and he didn't flinch and a little while later Augie went, hopped in his truck and went to live with Billy I still get pictures of Augie from time to time. He's living his best life ever. He got the love and life that he deserved, and I ended up writing a book about my healing journey, which is called Heal the Intensive Care Review. You know I wanted Augie to save me, but I learned that the only one that could save me was me and that I had the power to do it. ⁣ ⁣ 10:18 - Beverly (Caller)⁣ Hi, I'm Beverly. I'm 83 years old and I've been a pet owner most of my life and I love my pets to bits. Recently I lost my husband and I've been very, very depressed. He was the light of my life and, as a result, it caused me to want to have company in one form or another and I recently I adopted a dog, a little chihuahua, and he has been the light of my life. His name is Coco and I've never in my life as much as I've loved all my animals. I've never loved an animal like this. Perhaps my need caused me to love greater, I don't know, but he has made a major difference in my life. Having Coco in my life has been a godsend and, although I still miss my husband, coco is a wonderful distraction and completes my life. ⁣ ⁣ 11:24 - Hilary Russo (Host)⁣ What an incredible collection of stories from childhood to current day. Our pets really do make a difference in our lives, and I am so grateful to everyone who took the time to share and, more importantly, took the time to love. Whether or not you pressed record on this very episode. If you are tuning in right now, I know this is reaching you when it needs to, and if this episode touched, moved and inspired you in any way, I would love to hear from you. I'd love to know what you think, share your thoughtful responses by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Podcasts or YouTube or wherever your headphones take you. I'd love to read what you have to share. So download this episode, make a difference, pay it forward. Somebody else you might know could use this right now, and I imagine those who are part of this episode will love to hear your thoughts too. ⁣ ⁣ 12:19⁣ On that note, if you've experienced the loss of a pet, I hope in time you open your heart again to love again. And if that is part of the journey, you know now, know that you're chosen and know that you were chosen or, better yet, you chose each other. What a gift, what a gift to know that. Thank you again for being here. Thank you again for one of your choices being that you tune in week after week. I love you for that and I'll see you next week. Be well. ⁣ ⁣