Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Golden Angels: Lessons in Love and Loss from Buddy Girl and Daisy May
    Golden Angels: Lessons in Love and Loss from Buddy Girl and Daisy May
    Golden Angels: Lessons in Love and Loss from Buddy Girl and Daisy May
    Ebook114 pages1 hour

    Golden Angels: Lessons in Love and Loss from Buddy Girl and Daisy May

    By Stephanie Weaver

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This collection of inspirational essays explores the life lessons learned from the loss of a first beloved dog and the puppy who followed her. Each essay closes with a unique recipe that brings the story to life. The recipes—some for people, some for dogs, some for people and dogs—add a wonderful, charming twist that makes this book unique. The book is “a sweet, moving tribute, a love letter, and a testimony to our deep and abiding capacity for love.”

    Bringing comfort to anyone who has lost a pet or human loved one, it fully acknowledges the process of grieving and encourages them to begin again when the time is right.

    Perfect for pet lovers or someone grieving the loss of a loved one

    Essays include Mindfulness, Joy, Release, and Play
    Recipes include juicer pulp doggie biscuits, peanut butter kiss cookies, and Daisy cupcakes
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateFeb 15, 2013
    ISBN9780988861909
    Golden Angels: Lessons in Love and Loss from Buddy Girl and Daisy May
    Author

    Stephanie Weaver

    Stephanie Weaver, M.P.H. is an author, blogger, and certified wellness and health coach. She has a Master of Public Health in Nutrition Education from the University of Illinois. Her recipes have been featured in Cosmopolitan, Bon Appétit, Cooking Light, Parade, and more. She lives in San Diego.

    Read more from Stephanie Weaver

    Related to Golden Angels

    Related ebooks

    Dogs For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      From The Editor

      May 27, 2022

      From The Editor
      2 min read

    • Article

      How A Puppy Saved My Grieving Family

      Apr 16, 2021

      How A Puppy Saved My Grieving Family
      6 min read

    • Article

      Meet Julie.

      Jun 2, 2022

      Meet Julie.
      9 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Feb 18, 2022

      I am on holiday in Cape Town, having lived here previously for many years, and was both interested and thrilled that Suzy Brokensha, as well as being a wordy nerdy, highlighted the word ‘hiraeth’ (Editor’s letter, January/February 2022). I am origina

      4 min read

    • Article

      Earth Mail

      Aug 31, 2020

      Earth Mail
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Season Of Giving

      Nov 25, 2020

      The Season Of Giving
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ask the EXPERTS

      Dec 1, 2020

      Q Last Christmas we went to a lovely holiday cottage in Cumbria with the kids (13 and 15). We had a lovely time – we sledged, played games and enjoyed afternoons and evenings in front of a log fire, listening to music. But there were moments when the

      4 min read

    • Article

      Bear In mind

      Jun 15, 2023

      Bear In mind
      3 min read

    • Article

      Childhood Memories

      Aug 26, 2022

      Childhood Memories
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Cup Of Tea With ... ANTONIA PREBBLE

      Nov 1, 2020

      For 15 years she’s been part of Three’s West family – first as the surly Loretta in Outrageous Fortune, then as sharp-tongued Rita in Westside. As the series draws to a close, the Weekly discovers that Antonia Prebble, the actress who brought these t

      3 min read

    • Article

      Winning Letter

      Nov 17, 2023

      YOU know that feeling when you’re excited about something but a bit sad about it at the same time? It’s that feeling that gives you butterflies in your belly but also a bit of a squeeze in the chest. Bittersweet doesn’t quite describe it but I’m sure

      5 min read

    • Article

      Our Pottery Story

      May 12, 2023

      Our Pottery Story
      4 min read

    • Article

      It’s All Relative

      Aug 1, 2021

      It’s All Relative
      9 min read

    • Article

      Redefining Togetherness: One Mother’s Quest for an Adventurous Family Life

      Jan 12, 2021

      — Isn’t it interesting how an image can evoke so many emotions? Of course, that’s why they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Visual art moves us humans. Yes, some of us seem to be moved more easily than others, but the potential is there for u

      6 min read

    • Article

      Hello

      Apr 26, 2020

      Hello
      1 min read

    • Article

      My Story “I Wrote My Own Eulogy”

      Dec 29, 2021

      When I was pregnant with my first baby in 2009, I had a very specific idea of what the next stage of my life would look like. I would somehow balance parenting a newborn and managing my business, as well as self-care, a social life and maintaining a

      5 min read

    • Article

      Q&A Percy Daggs III

      Mar 26, 2022

      Q&A Percy Daggs III
      5 min read

    • Article

      No 32 LABOUR OF LOVE

      Apr 2, 2018

      The success of Ambeloui is something we never bargained on. The vineyard started out as a solution to a very big garden, became a weekend hobby and then took on a life of its own, keeping all of us on the run trying to keep up with it. Even our older

      1 min read

    • Article

      A granny OLD TIME

      Jan 17, 2021

      Schools and early childhood centres are so close to re-opening, you can probably smell the freedom from here. This is not because we don’t love our kids or don’t love having them around, it’s just… ooh, a bit of quiet between breakfast and dinner wou

      3 min read

    • Article

      Was I SECOND BEST?

      May 5, 2022

      Was I SECOND BEST?
      3 min read

    • Article

      Going Away For Christmas

      Nov 23, 2023

      Going Away For Christmas
      2 min read

    • Article

      Two Plus One Equals Love!

      Oct 4, 2021

      Two Plus One Equals Love!
      9 min read

    • Article

      Letter From The Ed

      Sep 14, 2023

      Our fabulous puzzle ed Dan is very excited this week – as is the whole tl! team. That’s because we’re launching our new 24-page pull-out puzzle book. You’ll get more puzzles and more prizes every week! We know how much all our wonderful puzzlers love

      1 min read

    • Article

      Letters To The Editor

      May 5, 2022

      I’m wondering if you have any ideas or tips about the best ways to store vegies without putting them in the bottom of the fridge? I live in Tasmania, and now we’re heading into winter, I figure that a Tassie winter is probably the same temperature as

      3 min read

    • Article

      Cat Call

      Jan 12, 2020

      Cat Call
      2 min read

    • Article

      A Whole New Me!

      Sep 12, 2023

      Kneeling beside my little boy Aubrey, I helped him scoop wet sand into his plastic bucket and pat it down with the spade. Just as we’d turned out a perfect sandcastle, the tide came swishing towards us, and we leapt up and dashed away from the foam.

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Golden Angels

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Golden Angels - Stephanie Weaver

      0988861909

      Preface

      Grieving is exhausting. I began writing this book as a tribute to our beloved Golden retriever Buddy Girl, who we lost to cancer on January 2, 2012. Since then we have lost three human family members, so the process of grieving has been part of my life all year.

      Everyone grieves differently. In my case, I immediately started writing about Buddy Girl, using my creativity as a way to process my grief and hold on to her memory. A few of the essays became blog posts, and then this book began to take shape. I hope these thirteen essays—and the healthy recipes that accompany them—help you savor your loved ones and those you have lost, whether they had four legs or two.

      My husband Bob and I have been blessed to have two incredible dogs in our family. Buddy Girl was our first dog: graceful, beautiful, spirited. We found our little Daisy on Mother’s Day 2012. While she can’t replace Buddy Girl, she has brought new joy, challenges, and healing to our lives.

      On January 2, 2012, Bob and I woke up late and neither of us wanted to get up. Buddy Girl was sleeping with her head shoved under the bed, our Headless Puppy. I knew it was the last time I would wake up with her there. It was hard for me to breathe.

      Bob said, This is Buddy’s day. It’s a celebration of her. We have to focus on the joy. We lit a candle and I laid out the pack of angel cards face down on the table. Angel cards come in a small fabric bag covered in hearts. Each card has a single word on it like Love, Acceptance, or Balance with a sweet watercolor illustration. They can be used for fun, for guidance, for meditation. Some people pick one every day, others once a week. Bob and I pick them together on special occasions, especially when we are starting something new. A new year, a new phase.

      We spent some time meditating setting our intention for the day. We wanted the day to be beautiful, to enjoy it, to stay present.

      I picked Creativity. Hmm. Not even close to what I was expecting. Bob picked Release. Okay, that made sense. We each picked a second card. I picked Obedience. Hunh? I tried not to be annoyed, knowing that it would make sense at some point. Bob’s last card was Patience. We used the angel cards as a way to frame the day. The cards we chose became more meaningful as the weeks passed.

      I’ve named each essay here after an angel card. It may sound a little sappy but Bob and I frequently called Buddy our guardian angel, and I wonder how we would have gotten through some very tough times without her.

      Daisy appeared in our lives just when we needed her, keeping us company during the loss of our dear friend Pete in June and our nephew in August. It’s truly not an exaggeration to say that these special dogs have acted as angels in our lives, bringing healing and joy, keeping us grounded and present, and helping us experience the infinite power of love. This is their story, and with all stories, we must begin.

      Begin

      Buddy’s story started long before she was born, long before I met Bob. I had wanted a dog for the entire 15 years I lived in Chicago. But I was always in an apartment, always at work or with friends. There was never space enough or time enough to care properly for a dog.

      When I moved to San Diego in 1997 to work for the San Diego Zoo, getting a dog was one of my top priorities. I had downsized from a ten-room apartment in Chicago to two small rooms on the second floor of a funky building with a slow elevator. I had a twelve-square patch of kitchenette linoleum and wall-to-wall shag carpeting. But I was determined to get my dog at last.

      There it was, the posting on the Zoo bulletin board. Free puppies! I called to reserve one, made an appointment for Saturday, and went off to Petsmart, where I dropped $90 on everything I’d need for my new Buddy. I had no idea how popular that name was. I just knew I needed a Buddy. So I bought the little custom engraved nametag and counted the days until I could pick up my puppy.

      On Saturday, I called for directions to the property out in Jamul. Oh, I’m sorry. All the puppies are gone.

      Wha---? But I have a crate! And Baby Dog shampoo! And a cute little leash and collar! And a friggin’ engraved nametag with my address on it!

      I was totally crushed even though I realized that trying to housebreak a puppy in that tiny apartment without access to a yard would have been a disaster. I could have gotten a dog someplace else, but the reality of the limitations of that apartment had settled in and I knew I needed to wait a little longer.

      Six months later I started dating Bob. Six months after that, we bought our house. It has a fenced-in yard. Commence puppy planning.

      Not so fast. Bob wanted time to work on the property and enjoy being married before taking on the responsibility of a dog. He knew that it wasn’t fair to get a dog while working on the house, and our house needed a lot of work.

      I had been hinting that I wanted a dog for a while when Christmas came around. Bob is an excellent stuffer of Christmas stockings, and he really outdid himself that first Christmas. Amidst all the fun little gifts, he tucked in a Golden Retriever puppy refrigerator magnet.

      A year went by, we worked on the house, and I kept hinting. In my second Christmas stocking I got a little stuffed Golden Retriever. Bob says now that he wasn’t trying to taunt me; he just thought it was cute.

      Our third Christmas I got Buddy Girl, and she got her own stocking.

      All along, I had thought we would go to a nice shelter and pick out a dog. Since I worked at a zoo I knew all about inbreeding, puppy mills, and the importance of rescuing shelter animals. In that world, people didn’t buy purebreds, they Rescued.

      After two-and-a-half years of cajoling, I didn’t even think about asking for a puppy. But now that he was ready, he was Ready, all in. In his mind, the process went like this...

      Let’s do some research on breeds, and figure out what breed we think will really suit us. And of course, don’t you want a puppy so you can train it from the start? Do I want a puppy?! Are you kidding? So on a sunny Sunday afternoon in October 2000 we went to the bookstore for an afternoon of puppy research.

      Golden Retrievers weren’t

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1