Not just the loss of a human, also the loss of dogs

As the death of Ted Kennedy settles in, there is a lot of change in the air for the people whose paths he crossed. An article appeared on Politico about how people won't be seeing his dogs around the senate buildings and the Capitol anymore. The article reflects the changing perspective of animals as members of our families. I work from home so I have my dogs with me all day but Kennedy taking his dogs to work with him is still unheard of for most people. What's even more unheard of is how many people say they will miss seeing the dogs around.

October 20th workshop, The aftermath of suicide, Albuquerque

When someone has died by suicide, how do you support the people coping with the loss?
When someone has attempted suicide, how do you support the attempter and his/her family?
Learn from two experts in the suicide field how you can help people grieving the loss of suicide or a suicide attempt. What do you say? What can you do? What are the resources available? This workshop is geared toward lay anyone who might come in contact with people coping with suicide.
“The Aftermath of Suicide:
Supporting People Coping With Suicide Loss, Suicide Attempters and their Families”
Michelle Linn-Gust, Ph.D.
Michelle is the president-elect of the American Association of Suicidology and an international speaker and writer about suicide postvention and prevention issues. She is the author of Do They Have Bad Days In Heaven? Surviving the Suicide Loss of a Sibling and Ginger’s Gift: Hope and Healing through Dog Companionship. She also is a co-founder of the New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition.
JoAnn Sartorius, L.I.S.W.
JoAnn’s work with high-risk adolescents and their families spans 30 years.
For the last decade, she has concentrated on suicide prevention as well as addressing the aftermath of suicide. Currently, JoAnn works throughout the state as a program coordinator and trainer for school-based suicide prevention programs, is a member of a suicide crisis response team, and presents educational workshops on suicide prevention for youth, school personnel and communities. JoAnn is a co-founder of the New Mexico Suicide Prevention Coalition.
October 20, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
United Way Central New Mexico
2340 Alamo Ave. SE, 2nd Floor
Albuquerque, NM
Cost for the workshop is $40,
Counseling and Social Work CEUs (3) are $15 and payable to JoAnn Sartorius at the workshop
Minimum number of participants is 30, maximum is 50.
Registration online at www.chelleheadworks.com or mail a check for $40 per participant with names and email addresses of participants to:
Chellehead Works (check should be made out to Chellehead Works),
1711 Solano Dr, NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110
Questions? Email: info@chelleheadworks.com
PLEASE PRE-REGISTER ASAP TO ENSURE YOUR SPOT!!!!!!!

Photos 2006

A few August photos

We had a fish fest yesterday since Devlan brought some fish from Belize with him (still frozen when he arrived!). I'm posting a few photos from the day of the dogs and one of Nestle who decided to take a nap between my feet.

Happy 4th Birthday, Hattie!

Hattie turned four today. It's hard to believe it's been almost four years since Hurricane Katrina changed so many lives, including ours. We will never know what the very beginning of Hattie's life was like but we know she's a happy dog, er, queen of the Linn-Gust House (don't tell Nestle!). I wanted a Golden Retriever, Joe brought me a Cur we named Hattie. She was meant to be part of our family and we're grateful for all the dogs who also got adopted because of Hattie. Joe's friend Craig returned to Mississippi and took 15 dogs to Maine where they found new homes (except the one who died). Happy birthday, Hattie!

More photos

Devlan arrives from Caye Caulker, Belize

Our friend Devlan has arrived from Caye Caulker, Belize, on Sunday. The dogs are happy campers, as seen in the photos, now that their buddy is here. They can be seen going in and out of Devlan's room in the morning, wanting to sleep with him (except Chaco who only sleeps at the foot of the stairs below me- he is my security). Yesterday Devlan's door was shut and Hattie was laying outside his door in the hallway waiting for him to get up. It took a day but Hattie finally swam to Devlan and climbed on his back so he could walk her around the pool (see photo).

National Suicide Prevention Week

National Suicide Prevention week is September 6 - 12, 2009. The American Association of Suicidology has some information that can help you plan activities in your community. View the link here.

The Dougy Center Fire

The Dougy Center is an incredible place for grieving children and families. Many centers in the US are based on it. In June, the building was in burned down by an arsonist. If you can help with any donation, please do. The service they offer to children and families is so important to help repair lives and help people find hope again after loss. The web site is here.

Purple and turquoise pins for suicide prevention

World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10. We’ve been using the colors purple and turquoise for people to show their support for people who have lost loved ones to suicide for several years. The color scheme was started by Sandy Martin and me when we were discussing how the suicide cause had no color but because many causes already use one color, we decided to go with two. We chose purple and turquoise because they are healing colors and our hope is that we can help people show their support for lives that have been altered in some way by suicide and show hope for the future with suicide prevention. Please order your pins soon here!