Jill & Her Pomeranian Pack Find Themselves On Forbidden Drive
Jill knew that she and her husband had their issues to work on. She expected that the text saying they needed to talk would launch bigger discussions – she did not, however, expect to be greeted with a proclamation of divorce upon return from her business trip.
Jill remembers staring for an hour as considerations for dividing the dogs were discussed. To Jill, this was not an option. Oliver, Charlie, and Isabelle would not be divided. In all the chaos and negotiation, this was the one thing that made sense. “That was the only thing I knew I was going to fight for,” Jill remembers.
In all the chaos and negotiation, this was the one thing that made sense. “That was the only thing I knew I was going to fight for,”
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In the oscillation of grief, sometimes we’re lucky enough to have friends in our lives that help us with both ends of the pendulum swing – the back and forth between the pain of our grief and the rest of our lives. Often these friends have four legs. They help us to lick our wounds with a kiss, a snuggle, and an understanding nudge. Then they get us out of bed to take one step forward.
Isabelle knew that Jill needed someone to sit with her as she navigated her pain. Jill recounts, “I knew that she was right there with me and that she was mine. It meant everything to me that she knew that I was sad and that I needed her to snuggle.” Oliver was game for whatever the pack was up for, but he was an amazing snuggler also.
“When you don’t know what to do, move forward and then you will instinctively know what to do next.”
I once had a therapist that said, “When you don’t know what to do, move forward and then you will instinctively know what to do next.” Sometimes forward is a walk, a shower, or one foot in front of the other. It’s rarely monumental in scale but is nearly always a profound, albeit quiet, catalyst. Charlie and Oliver showed up with a message for Jill a few days into her paralyzing grief. As Jill puts it, “Get your ass up – I need a walk” was their message; loud and clear. She says their needs were a gift as she journeyed on, at first, solely for them. Jill describes her realization, “I had to get up. I had put myself together. I had to move forward. If for nothing else, then for them.”
She began to seek out adventures in their new life together. “Knowing that I had to do that for them allowed me to see different parts of the city.”
Jill moved states and headed back in the direction of her family and childhood home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She found herself missing the adventures she’d treated all three dogs to in her former life – paddle boarding and hiking were two favorites. She began to seek out adventures in their new life together. “Knowing that I had to do that for them allowed me to see different parts of the city.”
One weekend not long after moving back to the area she grew up in, she consulted the All Trails app and found Forbidden Drive. She parked the car and as she emerged with her pack, ready for adventure, she stopped in her tracks as she stood in a painting she recognized. A painting of The Valley Green Inn, a historic restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, had been displayed in her grandparents’ house (and hangs today in her parent’s house). But Jill had never seen it in person before, so this would be the beginning of another adventure. As Isabelle, Charlie, Oliver, and Jill put one foot in front of the other on the trail, the historic Inn towering before them, everything within Jill’s being confirmed, “Okay. I’m home.”
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This story was featured in the Woman’s Best Friend coffee table book series. All profits from the sales of the book go to a rescue. The project has raised over $25,000 for rescues. Lux Summit Studio’s current coffee table book project is Old Friends: How Our Senior Dogs Teach Us To Live Our Best Lives. (See the trailer below.) Old Friends proudly supports Monkey’s House Dog Hospice and Sanctuary in New Jersey.
Submissions are open to feature senior dogs and their humans in Old Friends. Would you like to celebrate your bond with your senior dog and honor their legacy? Click the button to learn more about the project and submit to participate.
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Kristen Kidd is founder and co-owner of Lux Summit Studio in North Wales, Pa. She specializes in pet and family photography. She and her husband David, along with their two rescue dogs Hudson and Nito, call Lansdale home in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Together their full service photography studio serves Bucks County, Chester County, Philadelphia County as well as the tristate area, including New York, Maryland and Delaware.
Upon inquiry, Lux Summit Studio also provides destination sessions nationally to locations such as Boulder, Colorado, Charleston, South Carolina, San Diego, California, Orlando, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia.
