Tag Archives: dogs

Personal Health Log. Road to a Service Dog I.

Posted on March 21, 2017 by healingwoman

When I was 25, I was a driven woman who had just gotten my MD degree. I had a husband, two cats, and a fear of dogs engraved since childhood. Today I am more than twice as old, live with … Continue reading →

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Essay. Finding gratitude when you don’t feel grateful.

Posted on January 22, 2017 by healingwoman

This morning I paused at the foot of the stairs and looked for the mirror that hung there for 23 years. It wasn’t there, just a nail and a bare white wall. We have taught Joseph to come directly to … Continue reading →

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Essay. My Life in Pets VI. Lily and Dying.

Posted on November 19, 2016 by healingwoman

I wrote about Lily’s vibrancy in my last post, and she was vibrant up to the moment she died. I know because I spent that long day with her, including that final moment. How do I describe what cannot be … Continue reading →

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Essay. My Life in Pets V. Lily and Motherhood.

Posted on October 26, 2016 by healingwoman

I got Teddy to make my husband happy. Lily came when Teddy got lupus and I panicked at a possible dogless life. Lily lived with the fear there was a party somewhere she was missing. She never missed one. Lily … Continue reading →

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Essay. Lessons of August.

Posted on August 17, 2016 by healingwoman

One problem in getting your first dog as an adult (after a childhood full of fear) is choosing the dog that will not frighten you. Teddy never scared me. He loved me, saw me through my pregnancy, guarded Joseph fiercely … Continue reading →

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Essay. My Life in Pets IV. Teddy and Being Alpha.

Posted on June 11, 2016 by healingwoman

I read several books before we got Teddy at 8 weeks. I taped lists on the wall with words he was to learn each week. Because bearded collies were bigger than I had wanted and my fears were kicking in … Continue reading →

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Essay. My Life in Pets III. An Afternoon through Teddy’s Eyes.

Posted on May 13, 2016 by healingwoman

Spring colors are here, the yellow of daffodils, cream and pink blossoms on shrubs and trees, a thousand shades of green. One year April brought a blizzard, and over two feet of powdery white stuff covered the yard and buried … Continue reading →

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Essay. Pets of My Life II. Teddy, Life and Death.

Posted on May 3, 2016 by healingwoman

In an impossibly small span of years, Teddy was my first puppy, my first hiking companion, and my first terribly ill pet, with lupus that ravaged his body from the age of 2 onward. At age 7, Teddy was terminally … Continue reading →

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Essay. Not an Either/ Or World.

Posted on April 8, 2016 by healingwoman

How a cat person became the mother of dogs… five, so far. I grew up afraid of dogs. Not a surprise. Three of the four corners of our block had dogs that bit people. When our two cats died at … Continue reading →

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Essay. Pets of my Life I. Teddy and Forgiveness.

Posted on April 3, 2016 by healingwoman

My life chapters are defined by pets. As the first essay on how my dogs have sustained me, here is the story of my first puppy, Teddy, bought when I was 34 to make my dog-loving husband happy. Teddy taught … Continue reading →

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