On March 4, 2024, my beloved Nom Noms, my soul dog, left this earth, and my life shifted.

My sweet girl loved me during a time in my life when I didn't fully let others know or love me. Through her, I learned how deserving of love I truly was. One day, I will share our full story, because it is one of my favorite love stories, but this book isn't just about my story. It's about all of ours.

If you are here, chances are you are missing a special someone, or know someone who is. 

While they may have been “just a pet” through the eyes of others, we know it was more than that. They were our family. A constant companion. A witness to our life. When Nom Noms died, I searched for resources that reflected the depth of what I was feeling. What I found often minimized the loss or rushed me toward healing. What I longed for wasn't a way to move on from her, or our life together, I wanted a way to honor the love story we had shared. To sit with it.

What I've come to learn is that grief isn’t about fixing. What it often needs is a place to go. A safe place to be held and expressed. 

After Nom Noms passed, I began offering pet grief therapeutic arts workshops. Together, we shared stories, created art, wrote letters, and remembered. Again and again, people told me these practices helped them feel less alone in their grief, and gave them a place to remember and explore their hearts.

That's why I created this book.

The Spaces They Leave is a guided expressive and therapeutic arts book for honoring, remembering, and grieving a beloved soul pet. Through reflective writing, art-making, coloring pages, and creative grief practices, these pages offer a place for your grief and your love to exist together.

You do not need to be an artist. Bad, messy, weird art is not only welcomes, but encouraged.  You only need a willing heart.
While loss changes the shape of our lives, it does not end our love.
This book is a place to bring your grief, your memories, and the love you still carry.