Our Furbabies — Our Hearts
Newsletter from September 2019
Get your Kleenex box out as this may bring you back into that gooey spot we all know and love.
For those who don’t know or haven’t been around since the opening of the shoppe, we have suffered a great loss of our precious keeper of the realm. Little LuLu of 14 years passed away on July 23rd at 930am and the shoppe has never been the same. This beautiful pup was the keeper of all my secrets, all my triumphs and all my tears. LuLu was my assistant while selling real estate, travelling on showings, helping calm clients and then finally turning the key on the shoppe this past May. Our arrival to Brighton’s Happy Place had invited more people to fall in love with her, while living out the last 2 months of her life. The shoppe is not the same without her wagging tail, her big brown eyes always looking up at you as she followed you around or just the guilt we went through when she stared at us for sitting in her chair and then finally jumping up to push us out.
The shoppe has not been the same since that Tuesday summer morning, and neither has my life.
One of the reasons this shoppe is truly amazing is that it is filled with so much magique. What happened after Lu’s passing was definitely no accident, and no coincidence. On the August long weekend I went up to the Lake for some quiet time and to pick up LuLu’s ashes in Campbellford. I spent the evening in my bedroom feeling the emptiness of no furry best friend beside me. My Little Lu had slept in that bed with me since I first bought the place in 2015. This night was filled with yearning and loneliness to the point that I was jolted out of bed thinking she had fallen off in the middle of the night.
On the way to the vet I ran into a friend in a big mess and we talked of how painful it was for her when she lost one of her fur babies. She gave me a breeder to call as she had heard some pretty special things about them. I tucked it in my mind and went to pick up my little girl. While talking to my girlfriend, I was thinking I definitely was not ready for another dog. How could I replace Lu while I was still grieving? It would never work as I felt there was no room in my heart. The pain I felt over the week waiting for her ashes was one of the worst weeks. I was in such pain over her loss, and she was……here it is, “Just a Dog”. That could not be further from the truth as they are our heart. Falling in love with our babies make our life a happier place, a reason to get up and reason to go for walks. The one thing that brought me back to my heart was when I had her energy back in my hands by way of her ashes. On the way to my truck I realized I had LuLu in my arms again and back in my heart. I realized I just needed her to come home and that is what was missing. I didn’t know where she was and I didn’t know how to feel her again. She was finally coming home with me and the healing could finally begin.
I got back to our little place on the lake and I picked up the phone out of curiosity to call the breeder. The more we talked the more I felt nudged by LuLu, as though she were sitting right there beside me. This breeder was a lovely family who was working hard to develop temperaments fitting to be emotional support dogs and therapy quality dogs!
WOW!! This was exactly who LuLu was in our life together. This was the exact puppy I needed to follow in my girl’s pawprints. Finally I asked the important question of when the next litter of Australian Cobberdogs were to be born. The answer I was given was not the answer I was ready to hear, as now I was not able to say NO. There was a litter that had just been born and on no other day than July 23rd, the same day LuLu had passed away. Of course my mouth had to move, I asked if they were born in the am or the pm? How could I not ask this wildly crazy question? Yes this beautiful litter was born in the pm and I was confused more than ever. All I could ask was, “Can I get back to you within the hour?” This was a huge commitment and not one I wanted to take lightly. I had my dog Boomer a black Lab who needed some loving and some time with just us.
This day found me out on the lake enjoying some sunshine and a swim at the sandbar on Crowe Lake. This day found me swimming, spinning and confused only to look down to find a dry white feather sitting in the palms of my hands while I was out in the middle of the lake. I looked up and said, ‘Thank you, I hear you Lu.’ I could not get back to the shore quick enough to call the breeder back and email my non-refundable $200.00 deposit.
As August was creeping on I drove out to Listowell to see the pups and pick our Cobberdog. Now how confusing is it to sit in a pile of gorgeous puppies climbing all over you? The day I looked at the very first photo of this litter, my heart had already picked her. I was second pic so I did a lot of manifesting over the next 23 days while others put fear in me that I wouldn’t get the chocolate one. As I walked into Arrowhead’s facility the owner told me the good news. I was now first pic and I had my brown girl.
The next road I was to go down was the picking of this little ones name. I bounced many around trying to find the perfect name and three days later it came to me. I woke up one morning knowing all those other names did not quite do it and I wanted to call her ‘Sunshine’. Yes as always in life you have people who give you their thoughts and you even ask for their thoughts. I did just that with my daughter and although her puppy pick was the same as mine, the name was definitely not to her liking.
That morning I went to work like any other day. Like any other day I felt Lu right beside me and little signs would pop up showing me this to be true. Happy Place has shared so many magical moments since May and this day delivered another one. I have had a feel good book in the shoppe for months and nobody has ever picked it up. This day a bright light walked in and grabbed the book with so much excitement saying, “you have the sunshine book, I have to buy this for my friend Lou or Lu.” It turns out one of her close friends was going to be receiving this book as a gift and her name was LouLou. What my new friend didn’t realize was that she had given me an even bigger gift that day. The books name is ‘Hello Sunshine’ and I knew at that very moment my LuLu named the puppy right alongside me by finding her way into Jane’s hands. Our new puppy is ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and her new home is waiting for her here in Brighton and here at Happy Place.
When I first had the vision of what I wanted to create here in Brighton Lu was a big part of it. She had the calming capabilities and the love that she gave with such a spunky tenderness. The plan was for LuLu to be at all the retreats and at the shoppe every day in order to greet all our new friends. My first weekend retreat is coming up November 15th but over the past few months of planning I always felt something was missing. When I gave birth to the vision of Railside Retreat Lu was always beside me planning it out. I was so excited planning this retreat and have not been able to put it together in the way that I had hoped for. Since her passing this retreat has had many twists and turns that brought some disquieting delays with many changes. These delays created an energy that I was not sure how to clear until a trip I made to Kitchener this past week.
The Renew & Reconnect to your Soul Retreat finally broke through and I was able to see where the energy needed to go. With so many blocks and so many questions I realized I needed to create a value packed retreat no matter the blocks. For some, this will be their very first experience of a retreat. The rising, renewing and recharging is a gift everyone of us has the right to experience but not all of us are able to. I wanted to make it possible more than anything else, so I brought it to a place that would be more feasible. For some they will find the beauty of a new tribe and rituals that would possibly have them wanting more. For others it may be a beginning of a whole new awakening. I have created a beautiful half weekend that promises to offer an opportunity of self love and self care with like minded women and a few special guests.
One of the special guests that was not expected arrived on the heels of this new retreat. I spent days in a beautiful surrendering with faith to find the heart and soul that would eventually give birth to the retreat that was meant to be. I got home late Tuesday evening to find an email from Sunshine’s trainer of On Golden Paws in Varna near Grand Bend. Kelly was inquiring on the retreat and was interested in joining us as well as interested in bringing Sunshine for training purposes. Kelly is Sunshine’s personal trainer and has had her since September 21st and will be continuing her training until the middle of December. This has been one of the hardest things waiting for this little puppy to come home. This was the time I needed to put her first and to have her with this amazing trainer of On Golden Paws. Sunshine is being loved, trained and prepared for the shoppe and her new life. What a spectacular opportunity for Sunshine to join this retreat and in truth this is a spectacular gift to have Sunshine attend the retreat in place of LuLu. The vision I had with LuLu at Railside Retreat turned out to be a different vision as LuLu chose a different way to provide puppy love and a whole different kind of healing.
Did Lu arrange this as well? Was this retreat not coming together the past few months because Sunshine was not ready yet? LuLu has been in the driver’s seat since July 23rd when she had passed away. LuLu through the little signs, was showing up in my journal, in my shoppe, our home and so many other places and has made it clear that Sunshine was to be the fur ball energy for years to come. This new pup who Lu confirmed would be called Sunshine was now going to be beside me for our first retreat as LuLu decided it was time to pass the olympic flame. Little Miss Sunshine would be arriving to her new home and her first retreat to show up for Lu and fill all of our hearts the way LuLu did .
I have read a version of a poem called The Rainbow Bridge but never have I seen this letter until friends of mine emailed it a while back. They too lost their best friend Cody who played together with Lu at the lake and now I am sure they play together in waiting for us.
A Letter from the Rainbow Bridge:
Hi, Mom,
Now that I’ve been across The Rainbow Bridge for a couple weeks, they said I should write a letter home. Sorry Mom, but I’m so busy ‘across the bridge’ that I haven’t thought of home much. They said it’s okay and that you would understand. I hope you do. (I think you will.)
Remember that night when I wasn’t feeling very well and we were all crying? I don’t remember much, but I do remember seeing and hearing all of you as well as feeling your touches and hug. I remember hearing “we love you” and that one last command to me to “Go through”. I didn’t know what you meant, so I turned around and walked through the fog that was in front of me. I saw the biggest bridge I’ve ever seen! There were so many friends on the other side of it! They were all playing with toys and balls! You were so right to tell me to go there!
My feet kept moving forward, but my heart kept pulling me back. Your touches became lighter and lighter and I so wanted to come back to nudge your hands for more love, but I was overcome by this feeling of curiosity for the happy place over the bridge! My paws started moving on their own, like a gentle breeze was moving them forward for me! I can’t explain it, but I had no doubt that it was the right thing to do!
As I walked across that big huge bridge by myself I looked for you, because you’re always by my side, walking with me, but this was different. I didn’t have a collar around my neck or a leash connecting me to you ~ I was ‘free’! Even though you weren’t there with me, I never felt alone! I actually felt like I had a huge cape of love wrapped around my body and the more I walked, the easier it was to breathe!
I just kept walking and I could feel more warmth in the big cape hug, so I kept on walking! I eventually made it over the big bridge – I did it all by myself mom. When I got here all of my new friends greeted me and helped me walk off the bridge ~ it was so cool! They gave me a pair of wings and said that I was now a Guardian Angel!
What I’ve learned over these past few weeks has been amazing and nothing like I’ve ever seen before! We’re all the same up here ~ we all have wings and we all have Forever People to watch over ~ that’s YOU Mom! You’re my Forever Person and I’m your Forever Dog! We had such a great life together and I do miss you a LOT, but please know that I am so happy in my new home across The Bridge!
Mom I will send you another Earth Angel so you won’t be alone. Give them your whole heart, like you gave it to me. I’ll check in every so often to make sure they treasure your love ~ like I always did! When you miss me, think of a rainbow and know I am on the other side of it, waiting to walk with you again. I’ll always be in your heart. I love you, Mom! Time for me to go play.
Your Fur Baby Forever
I wish to add a special note to families who have lost their special furbaby. They truly do stay with us forever and you gave them the greatest love and they too were able to give their heart to you. There is a special gift in knowing unconditional love truly does come from our pets as they lean on us and more so because they let us lean on them.
❤️