My Story

growing up in rural indiana was ideal for a girl who loved to roam in the woods and fields with her dogs and cats, climb trees and rejoice in the gifts that Nature brought each season. Our family included dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, horses, and one very mean parakeet.

I grew up surrounded and embraced by Nature. During high school, my sister and I were pet sitters instead of baby sitters. My focus in college continued my desire to keep in touch with my love of Nature. Seventeen years later, three urban metropolises and two countries behind me, I ended up in Westchester County, New York with a husband, a cat and two Belgian Sheepdogs. My enthusiasm for a career was waning, and I had this nagging feeling that somehow I had missed my calling. It wasn't until my beloved canine soul friend Skipper passed away quite unexpectedly that my desperate attempt to understand why led me to where I am today.

the turning point. In April of 2002, my Mom and I went on a pilgrimage to the Best Friends Sanctuary out in Kanab, Utah for 10 days, volunteering in Dog Town. Skipper went to Kevin's house as he had done for two years. A 14-year old Belgian, he was in excellent health and Kevin said he played all week with the other dogs, herding them with his usual gusto. It was a 40-minute drive to Kevin's house, so I called ahead to say I was coming and to tell Skipper how much I'd missed him. When I got to Kevin's house it was very quiet. Kevin came out with tears streaming down his face. "We were giving him a bath when you called. As soon as I hung up the phone he looked at me for a long moment and then just laid down and died. We gave him CPR and rushed him to the vet but he was gone." I gave Kevin a hug, thanked him for all he'd done and then drove home in shock.

Why? That was the question that haunted me. Why hadn't he waited until I at least could have been there to say goodbye? There had to be some reason that I could understand, but it was so out of my realm of understanding that I didn't even begin to know where to start. In desperation I called a friend of a friend of mine who is a gifted psychic. I'd never had any experience with "those kind of people" before. "Please," I begged, "Please help me understand why he left, and please help me find some peace with this."

In a very loving and supportive way this amazing woman connected with the soul of my beloved companion and reunited Skipper and me in a way that I had never experienced before. The gratitude of what she did for me left me stunned. I realized that never before had I felt quite so much passion for doing for others what she had done for me. "This is what I want to be doing for the rest of my life," I thought. It was the spiritual link that had been missing all along. So, because of two very amazing mentors, one two-legged and one four-legged, the journey to a new way of perceiving this world began.

fast forward - I have been a professional animal communicator and holistic mentor since 2002. Although I was happy at first to "get the message," the animals soon showed me there was a lot more to learn. With each client came new areas that I needed to know about: grief counseling, holistic nutrition, energy work, animal anatomy and physiology, and how to track lost animals. I also learned that the work is often as much about the person as it is about the animal. There is no separation between us -- all species are connected and all beings matter. The more we experience the more we learn.