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Pushkin is not a story.
Pushkin is a real life, that changed me,
and continues to inspire me each day.
Pushkin first came into my life in November of 1999,
when I adpoted him from Bideawee,
the humane organization located in midtown manhattan.
Pushkin and I enjoyed our first years here together in New York,
including here in Riverside Park
before moving to Tucson, and adding to our family his dad and his two brothers
Otis and Galileo.
In 2006,
Pushkin was diagnosed with red blood cell cancer.
He lived with cancer for 2 1/2 years,
before it was time for us to say goodbye
on February 1st, of 2009.
Along with his grandma, grandpa
and dad, I went to the vet's office held Pushkin in my arms,
and was able to sing to him one more time.
When Pushkin passed away I was devastated.
I'd never experienced the loss of someone close before,
especially not in my home.
Suddenly there was this silence:
I didn't hear in his paws coming down the hall
or that shake I would get from the bedroom every morning when he woke up.
So as part of my own
healing process
I decided it would be a constructive thing
to write a letter to him each day
during the season of Lent, ending on Easter Sunday.
Through the letters, I was able to spend time with him him each day
and I was also able to sort through my own emotions and thoughts,
about life, death, and what comes next.
And in the end of it, come out a little bit more hopeful
and letting my relationship with Pushkin evolve.
Inspired by how much letter writing helped ,
I created a website
where others can do the same
when they were going to the loss of their own companion animal.
On LettersToPushkin.com,
people are able to write to their own companion animals they've lost.
People have written letters to dogs, cats, fish, horses, ferrets, so many more.
Beautiful words
that really allow people to share the depth of their grief, the depth of their loss.
It's a wonderful place where people can come together,
and know that other people understand.
I'm so grateful to be able to share the spirit of Pushkin with you through the book and the web site.
In addition, 50% of the sales of the book goes to Bideawee,
the organization that first brought Pushkin and me together,
and is helping other families do the same, each day.