tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71643843068085630762024-03-14T03:13:25.779-07:00Kate McGahan: Life is the School Love is the LessonAuthor Kate McGahan writes every book to bring new perspective and to heal something in the reader. When you learn something new you grow, when you grow you heal. From Pet Loss to Human Grief, Soulmate Love to Alzheimer's Memoirs, Kate will bring the world of The Misunderstood into your world and your heart.
Catch a glimpse of Kate's writings through this blog which features excerpts from her books, poetry over the years and responses to various events, current at the time of the writing. Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comBlogger431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-44032886489381269282024-02-22T15:58:00.000-08:002024-02-22T15:58:05.618-08:00Dog Mats: The Smallest Things Can Become the BiggestToday I am picking the mats out of Immy and Joey - each one a mess of tangled hair within the soft silken strands. My fingers press and pull and eventually somewhere within each knotted tangled mess is a shred of grass, a weed or a tiny piece of debris. There is a reason for everything and sometimes when something in your life brings chaos, discomfort, confusion... when all around you Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-74277555068099110102022-07-12T08:31:00.006-07:002022-07-12T08:33:08.927-07:00Dear Jack: Many of My Friends Just Don't Seem to CareThis is one of the many things your pets come to teach. Many of you have found out who your truest friends are as you work through your grief. Who can you turn to? Are you surprised who is there? Are you surprised who is not? One of the things we teach you in our departure is to open your eyes to see Who Is Really There for you. Who loves and supports you through it all? This is a true friend. Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-77144530615934205402022-05-07T10:29:00.001-07:002022-05-07T10:29:24.313-07:00In So Many Ways There is Life After Death... Note from Kate: I didn't want another dog after Jack. But I had Joey who became quite the handful (!) after Jack passed. There was a time in my early grief I thought of giving up Joey. I was in so much pain! When I realized it was the complications of grief that made me want to give up Joey I got myself on a new path. It was worth the ride. Keep your heart and mind open and try not to Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-84614267933961732252022-04-10T10:32:00.002-07:002022-05-07T10:40:39.304-07:00Be a Hero of Love Instead of a Victim of Loss How? How do I stay with something when I want to leave? How? How do I let go of something when I don't want it to go? Two words: Love & Commitment. Those of you who are making progress know this -- and there are so many of you, I'm so proud of you. It takes love. That's all. LOVE heals the grief. It takes making love stronger than your grief. Being a Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-85998554242485753852022-03-29T11:06:00.003-07:002022-05-07T10:31:26.151-07:00Life is the School, Love is the Lesson, Grief is Our Teacher Only those who avoid love can avoid the pain of grief. Grief has a Grand Plan. Grief teaches you to quiet yourself and learn to tune into the unseen world around you. Getting through grief will strengthen your faith in that which you cannot see. When we struggle we can die. When we resist we can get hurt. Surrender to the grief. You are not required to feel anything. Just FEEL Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-80270168643666188482022-01-27T18:16:00.003-08:002022-05-07T10:31:33.077-07:00National Holocaust Remembrance Day We need to be reminded that we really have nothing to complain about...FRANKLY SPEAKINGThe strength of human will Is stronger than anything that can happen to it.This phenomenon of nature holds true. As the strongest winds blowSo the seedling is strengthened.When I think of the wisdom and the resiliency Of Viktor Frankl at Auschwitz,I am much better able to tolerateThe foul-smelling Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-19628612314708477582021-12-29T14:58:00.003-08:002021-12-30T09:15:33.615-08:00A New Year It’s New Year’s Eve… I’m waiting your arrivalTo ring in the new year. We dated years ago andDespite our differencesI loved you so. Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-196465683327220032021-12-22T15:46:00.005-08:002021-12-22T15:46:31.360-08:00We Hear You Wherever You Are, Wherever We Are Book 5, "Letters from Rainbow Bridge"The Jack McAfghan Pet Loss SeriesA Dog's Memoirs on Life and the AfterlifeAvailable on Amazon https://amzn.to/37XQMOMKate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-91890266609926398442021-10-25T10:33:00.000-07:002021-10-25T18:42:12.154-07:00Surviving Anniversaries and HolidaysANNIVERSARIES & HOLIDAYSExcerpt from "Only Gone From Your Sight: A Personal Approach to Human Grief & Loss"Every grieving mother knows how old her child would be today. You probably know how old I would be now and how long I’ve been gone. The heart remembers everything. You are connected to me by the love that we share, a love that tugs at your heartstrings at special times. You might Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-74241512029683823932021-02-20T11:32:00.000-08:002021-02-20T11:32:08.701-08:00How Do I Know When to Get Another Pet? How do you know when a new pet is right for you? Have you found one and are now agonizing over the decision? Agonizing over it probably means the time isn't right, or the pet isn't the right one. Remember that everything feels right when a new pet is right for you. You will be put in the right place at the right time. The process is smooth and easy. Sometimes the pet will come to Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-42925361944034095962020-05-20T19:14:00.000-07:002020-05-20T19:14:13.324-07:00Life Is A Highway
"...Our Master can see it all. If you drive down a long curvy road, you don't see the twists and turns until you are on top of them. But when you see things from a higher perspective you can see the whole road and the twists and the turns and the beginning and the end. In Heaven we can see where you are in relation to where you're going and we can make things happen at the intersections of Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-74095367487046657942020-05-12T09:49:00.000-07:002020-05-12T09:49:30.110-07:00Book 8 Ready for Pre-Order!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ON AMAZON
I've been busy preparing my next book for publication and I'm happy to report that it's almost done! Scheduled for release June 21!
My book is based on a true story that happened twenty years ago. I resurrected memories, poetry and journals to give me the backbone for a screenplay that has now become a novel. Seven lives intersect on the US/MexicoKate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-63683270734716006702020-05-11T10:10:00.000-07:002020-05-11T10:10:09.664-07:00The Walls Between Us - A Borderland Romance Coming Soon!
"Every seven years Francisco would burn his fields instead of reaping them. "Ash is full of nitrogen which makes the soil rich. It is worth losing the annual crop to allow the next six years to flourish," he would say. "We cannot keep taking from Mother Earth and not replenish her. There will be no minerals left if we keep using her without giving something back to her. It's like a husband Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-17382276557982465222020-02-18T07:46:00.001-08:002020-02-18T07:46:12.952-08:00A Walk In The Rain Turns into an Unexpected Date with Love
It's the anniversary of my crossing. Late this afternoon she went out in the pouring rain. She didn't really know why she went out there, but I think she heard my heart calling her heart. She doesn't always listen she's so busy hearing with her ears and thinking with her head. Humans have to pay attention to that feeling in their gut, in their heart, or they miss a lot.
She went right Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-87636591084329505982019-12-17T07:29:00.002-08:002020-03-05T13:31:37.262-08:00Save The Trees
A tree drops its seed
Which creates new life.
Roots, a trunk and limbs of its own
Then outstretched leaves
Which fall in the fall,
Decay and feed
The roots and all
Until one day
It drops its seed
And nature starts again.
Man plants a seed
On a lawn of grass
To grow a tree
For shade, for swing;
ToKate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-87851123443491748302019-11-13T08:22:00.000-08:002019-11-13T08:28:35.091-08:00"I'll Never Accept This Loss" - ACCEPTANCE - Stage 5
Acceptance is often confused with the notion of being “all right” or “OK” with what has happened. This is not the case. Most people don’t ever feel OK or all right about the loss of a loved one.
This stage is about accepting the reality that our loved one is physically gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality. We will never like this reality or make it OK, Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-31848079211258021952019-09-30T16:13:00.000-07:002019-09-30T16:17:57.046-07:00Do You Love Me Enough to do This?
Letting Go - Balloons
When we are faced with a difficult life challenge there is usually a lesson in it. Most of our life lessons are about Love
and about Letting Go.
Letting Go doesn't mean you don't love them anymore. Letting Go doesn't mean you won't miss them anymore. You can never cut the ties that bind two souls together who truly love each other. What you DO need to cutKate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-13227602955891926992019-07-10T18:49:00.000-07:002019-07-10T18:52:06.628-07:00Waiting Waiting Waiting
This image makes me think of my
father. He and my Mom split when I was a year old. Throughout my youth I would
find myself waiting for the days he would gather me up for scheduled weekend visits.
Sometimes he was a No Show but most of the time visits with him were good. He
is the sentimental Irish part of me so between that and being a child of
divorce, I suppose those are Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-79910146250834086752019-06-15T23:11:00.000-07:002019-06-16T12:04:25.050-07:00One Death after Another. My Dog Then My Father.
In Honor of Father's Day
(Excerpt from Book 3: Jack McAfghan's Return From Rainbow Bridge")
Upon my arrival at Rainbow Bridge Crossing....
CHAPTER 14
Never Alone
As I was happily reuniting with Grady and some other friends, I heard someone calling my name. It was a commanding voice. “Jack!” I raced back to the Bridge. I was so excited! I thought maybe they were calling to tellKate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-6701534797469852252019-04-14T13:41:00.001-07:002019-06-16T10:45:46.574-07:00Jack: I AM the Spirit that Moves
Dear Jack:
Is it okay to get another pet if the spirit moves you?
Don't you know, I am the spirit that moves you?
You can't replace me, but you can bring in a new kind of love. You've had her now for almost three months. You see her healing. You feel yourself healing too. It has taken this long for you to trust each other. She no longer runs from you. She comes to you Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-7857009178228366412019-04-07T12:26:00.000-07:002019-04-07T12:27:30.744-07:00It's Sobering: The Alcoholic Family
He's so nice one minute but not the next.
I don't understand what's wrong.
He's usually easy going
Not so angry and headstrong!
What did I do to earn his wrath?
What can I do to change it?
I thought our life was right on track.
I'll have to rearrange it.
To make him happy, that's my role
To keep the family close,
To keep the peace and keep the house,
And not appear morose.
Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-929664221649550802019-04-01T17:33:00.003-07:002019-04-01T17:37:03.611-07:00BAGGAGE CLAIM
I’m building a wall that I don’t want to build
A stockade ‘round my heart and soul
All because those before you filled
My life then left a gaping hole.
You pay the price of baggage carried
On and off throughout my years.
Some cast off and deeply buried,
Some I keep to tote my fears
Of failure, guilt, abandonment,
Which pull me down and hold me back.
These fears are much Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-28180403404024415402019-04-01T15:04:00.002-07:002019-04-01T15:04:21.231-07:00A Lifelong Course
Life is all about the experience of love
...Or the lack thereof...
And the expression
Of feeling.
Life keeps dishing out opportunities
To feel
Good and bad.
To FEEL.
When that happens
We either come through
Our Rite of Passage,
Or we smother the opportunity,
Burying it with our chosen painkillers;
Anxiety, addiction, depression....
Push the feelings away
And Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18412809880279901783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-27195136889596497712019-03-27T13:56:00.000-07:002019-03-27T14:06:33.492-07:00The Walls Between Us
This image shows the border between two countries: Mexico and the U.S.A.
Can you guess which side of the image is Mexico and which is the U.S?
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I live approximately 1/2 hour north of Nogales, Arizona which is directly across the border from it's sister Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7164384306808563076.post-1519181413585040222019-03-23T14:10:00.000-07:002019-04-01T16:43:21.042-07:00Spring Prayers for Those Who Grieve p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; -webkit-text-stroke: #000000} span.s1 {font-kerning: none} Everything is going to be alright. Love never dies and the end of this life is not the end of life at all. Something that appears to be the ending is always just the beginning of something else.🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸Have you read any of my other books? &Kate McGahanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03932640276157578416noreply@blogger.com