It all started in 2018 when I wistfully wished for my own family Christmas, just me and my dog.
I had gotten my black lab Olive, just two years prior, roughly 8 months after I had lost my mom. I was in my late 30s at the time, and was just finding myself getting past the worst of my grief from losing the love of my life is a nasty ‘divorce’, just two years prior to that. Now, to lose the person who I depended on the most, and whom I would forever love with all my heart, left me in a place of both utter pain, and coping numbness.
I had lost the two most important people in my life in two short years, the memories and still fresh feelings of loss and anguish, were things I wanted to do just about anything to get rid of.
Enter Olive.
Now, I’d like to say she was an easy puppy, or that from the second I got her, we were smiles and best friends … but she turned out to be her own unique 8 week old reincarnation of “Marley” from Marley and Me, so the truth was, that just wasn’t the case.
I cried every day the first week after I got her. By the second month, I was a walking zombie, sleep deprived and emotional, with a whole new appreciation and bafflement, for how mothers (and fathers) of human babies, could possibly even manage it.
I had bite marks covering everything in my house (including my own hands, feet and ankles). Anything on the floor was ripped apart within minutes. I had made countless trips to the Vet or Emergency hospital already, because while I had puppy proofed everything in my house… this little 10lb stinker could get into zipped up backpacks, closed cupboards, and of course snatch anything gross or inappropriate off the Chicago city street sidewalks, faster than I could scream “No! Are you serious!?!?”
Around month four though, we got into a groove. I had learned quite a few new training techniques, we were through the worst of the biting, and one day I realized that I had stopped holding back my love for this dog, something I hadn’t even realized I was withholding from her… the thought of losing yet another ‘person’ who I loved with all my heart, keeping me from giving my heart to this little pup in the first place.
From then on, we were what I would call soulmates. When people say owners and their dogs are exactly alike, they are dead right… I was a difficult child too😊.
So, it was Olive and I the Christmas of 2018. It was late December, a few days before I was set to leave to go to my sisters to spend Christmas with her and her family, when I decided I wanted my own “family” Christmas, at my place. I was sitting in front of my decorated Christmas tree, one I had cut down myself for the first time that year and decorated on my own. I had cooked a big meal for myself, something special for our ‘family’ Christmas night, I had given Olive a special dinner too, and now she was opening her presents under the tree.
“You know what would make this feel even better,” I thought with a smile. “What would make me feel like it wasn’t just me…”
Was if Olive had gotten gifts for me as well, and we were opening up our presents together.
Well, days later, I was embarrassed to share this wistful thought with other people. After all, there are still those out there that think it might be crazy. Or if nothing else, a little weird. But one evening to a close friend, it just popped out…
“That is SUCH a good idea,” she said.
Really!?!?!
I had to agree. But, she was a dog lover too, so…. maybe it was just us.
I let it slip to a few more people in the following months. And then a few more. Every time the response was shockingly the same, “That is SUCH a good idea.”
Hmph?
Well, I was burned out on a long career in marketing, passion in what I did and who I did it for, was something I had lost hope of altogether. I was still finding myself struggling with being ‘alone’, and while enjoying my life for the most part, I found myself wishing for a bit more laughter in it, and just more fun.
Olive always made me laugh I thought… and she was always there. My constant companion, with positive energy and unconditional love, keeping me company and making my life, and me, the best version of themselves they could be.
That’s the magic of animals in our lives I thought. Whether single, married, or in a large family… I saw people experiencing this same magic with their pets, everywhere I looked.
So, I left behind an unloved career for good to find more joy in my own life, and hopefully bring more into the lives of others. And the idea became a start-up business, something that could make people laugh, bring more fun to their lives, and most of all… encourage and grow the magic that was the bond between human and pet.
So… at FromYourPet.com we always try to laugh and have fun (after all, the goal of our content is to border on the totally ridiculous). But, if you catch us in a serious moment, we will admit that the reason we created this gifting experience, the reason we spend our time and money creating these (hopefully heartwarming) products, is for one primary reason:
We love our own pets like our children. We know they love us just as much. And we want to celebrate and strengthen the incredible emotional bond between Pet and Human with moments of smiles and looks of affection towards our four legged love balls, as we feel the love, loyalty, and gratitude they have for us (and we for them), when we open something special they “gifted” to us, even something personalized, and something that will always remind us of ‘them’.
We hope you will find as much joy in this ‘place’ as we do. While not perfect, we aim to make it that way. With like minded people, and the goal of making the world a better place, we hope you enjoy our products. We hope you get excited about our gifting service. And we hope our goofy articles, from Pets themselves, at the very least bring a smile to your face… or if nothing else cause a bemused shake of your head, and lighter feeling about the world around you.
Thank you for being part of this with us.
Thank you for coming on this (sometimes bumpy) journey.
And thank you for bringing just a little bit more love to this world… simply by loving ‘your’ pet.