Wendi

Raising Fath Wendi Newman 5-20-25 looked at my history posting yesterday. I have only written this newsletter a very few times since January 2024. Losing Woody deeply affected me and my family. Today, I can share that part of that experience is now a book. Richard was turned inside out. I was trounced by self-doubt and grief, but also by caregiving. I carried myself and Richard through this last year and a half. We were so lucky to have extra help from our therapists and doctor. The book includes a little about what happened just to set the context, but is primarily about Richard and his search for a way to recover. He went very, very far away. He found an unusual route back into himself, and that is the story in the book. The book’s creation was fairly easy for Richard because he journals and keeps excellent notes. It flowed out of him in one stream over a few weeks. Publishing it has been a journey in itself. I want to use a few of these newsletters to open a conversation about a couple of subjects. These are not easy to talk about, but they are important and we need to talk about them. The first is behavioral euthanasia of pets. I work in an area of the pet industry (sheltering) where we use euthanasia. I have cried with staff and clients as we work through these morally excruciating decisions. I have had many, many animals in my personal life, but I have never experienced this myself with one of my family members. It blew a hole through my soul. The second subject I want to talk about is caregiving. We have all been through this process in one way or another. It might be caring for a sick family member, friend, pet, or even caring for something with less physical definition (politics, church, neighborhood, city…you fill in the blank). The caregiving might be simple or very complex and intense. Some people I have met in my life carry heavy loads, but somehow they find the strength to go forward with inspiring spirits. I am fascinated by the kind of self-care that keeps the ship righted and sailing forward, even with a raging tempest. How do we balance care for others and ourselves in a common, devastating loss? Let’s talk. Richard had great dreams for himself and Woody as a therapy team. He wanted to help the elderly and kids in our area. Our purpose in publishing the book is that Woody and Richard’s story will hopefully help thousands of people as it reaches outward. Stay tuned, and thank you for reading.