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Goodbye Pet & See You in Heaven: A Memoir of Animals, Love and Loss
When her beloved small dog died, Bel Mooney was astonished at the depth of her ongoing sorrow. Sharing her loss online and in a newspaper article brought a deluge of responses, spurring Bel to explore these feelings further. Why do humans mourn pets? Can animals themselves grieve - and do they have souls? In Goodbye, Pet & See You in Heaven, Bel sets off on an emotional journey to learn more about pet bereavement.
She is astounded by inexplicable 'signs' of her dog's spirit, watches Bonnie's ashes being turned into glass, talks to experts and discusses the mysterious enduring energy of love. She discovers why Ancient Egyptians mummified animals and what different faiths, myths, writers and scientists have to say about animals and the afterlife. She also looks back over her own life and reflects on lessons learned from companion animals - and from wildlife too.
As informative as it is deeply moving, Goodbye, Pet is an intensely personal, uplifting look at the love we share with pets, both in life and afterwards. Enriched by heartfelt stories and inspirational words, it is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever loved an animal.
She is astounded by inexplicable 'signs' of her dog's spirit, watches Bonnie's ashes being turned into glass, talks to experts and discusses the mysterious enduring energy of love. She discovers why Ancient Egyptians mummified animals and what different faiths, myths, writers and scientists have to say about animals and the afterlife. She also looks back over her own life and reflects on lessons learned from companion animals - and from wildlife too.
As informative as it is deeply moving, Goodbye, Pet is an intensely personal, uplifting look at the love we share with pets, both in life and afterwards. Enriched by heartfelt stories and inspirational words, it is a book to be treasured by anyone who has ever loved an animal.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 25, 2016
3 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Bel Mooney
97 books20 followers(From official website)
As someone who has worked right across the media, I ‘meet’ the widest range of people through my books for adults and children, journalism and broadcasting. And I love it – especially my latest metamorphosis into an advice columnist, first for The Times and now for the Daily Mail on Saturdays. Believe me, there’s no complacency when I say I am blessed with a terrific life. It hasn’t all been easy. But I guess nobody’s life is…and why should it be?
I was born in Liverpool in 1946, where home was a flat in a low-rise estate called The Green, on Queen’s Drive, near Broadgreen Hospital, where I was born. I went to Northway Primary School and then passed the 11+ to go to Aigburth Vale Girls’ High School. This was old-fashioned state education and it served me very well indeed.
Then when I was 14 my world was turned upside down by a move to the South-West of England, to Trowbridge in Wiltshire. That’s when my beloved, hardworking parents obtained their first mortgage, on a three bed-roomed semi. It was such a step up in the world! I went to the local girls’ grammar school and tried to learn a new accent, in order to fit in. It wasn’t easy. But maybe writers should never really fit in…
When I left school I went to University College London, and in 1969 gained a first class honours degree in English Language and Literature. In 1968 I married my first husband, the broadcaster and writer Jonathan Dimbleby. We met in our second year (he was a philosophy student) and married in a whirlwind after knowing each other just four months. Our marriage was a real meeting of minds and was to last for 35 years, until 2003. Jonathan is one of the best, most wonderful people I have ever met. Still.
When I graduated I expected to go back to Uni and do a PhD as invited by my department, but I was seduced down the primrose path of journalism, and have never regretted not writing that thesis on Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. Anyway, I am now a Fellow of UCL and hold honorary degrees from Bath University and Liverpool John Moores – so, if I wanted, could dip my toe into university life once more.
My first job was on the now-legendary magazine NOVA, which was very exciting, as it used some of the best writers, photographers and designers around. I was Assistant to the Editor, then a feature writer, then contributing editor. After that I had a contract with the Telegraph Magazine, contributed to the Sunday Times, Guardian etc, and was a regular with the New Statesman, under the inspiring editorship of Anthony Howard. Later still I wrote columns variously in the Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan, the Listener and the Daily Mirror.
In 1974 Jonathan and I had Daniel, then in 1975 our second son Tom was stillborn, and in 1980 we had Kitty. At that time we moved to Bath and I began another career as a broadcaster, making programmes for radio and television. I also began to write fiction, starting with ‘The Windsurf Boy’ (1983) and then the first ‘Kitty’ book, ‘I Don’t Want To’ (1985). In 2005 I began a new strand of my career, writing a weekly advice column for The Times, and in 2007 I took that column to The Daily Mail.
In September 2007 I married the photographer Robin Allison-Smith. We live in Bath with our small white dog, a Maltese called Bonnie (of course!) We like doing travel pieces together and riding around on Robin’s Harley-Davidson ‘Fat Boy’ and dancing to the 1972 Wurlitzer and eating and drinking and going to the theatre and hanging out with friends and with Dan and Kitty. Robin and I have set up a company ‘Moon Media’ which offers photography and words, sometimes together. Contact www.robinallisonsmith.co.uk to discuss possibilities. We are also co-owners of a boutique ski chalet in the French Alps, so if you are interested in a wonderful holiday (beautiful in summer too) www.broski.co.uk.
As someone who has worked right across the media, I ‘meet’ the widest range of people through my books for adults and children, journalism and broadcasting. And I love it – especially my latest metamorphosis into an advice columnist, first for The Times and now for the Daily Mail on Saturdays. Believe me, there’s no complacency when I say I am blessed with a terrific life. It hasn’t all been easy. But I guess nobody’s life is…and why should it be?
I was born in Liverpool in 1946, where home was a flat in a low-rise estate called The Green, on Queen’s Drive, near Broadgreen Hospital, where I was born. I went to Northway Primary School and then passed the 11+ to go to Aigburth Vale Girls’ High School. This was old-fashioned state education and it served me very well indeed.
Then when I was 14 my world was turned upside down by a move to the South-West of England, to Trowbridge in Wiltshire. That’s when my beloved, hardworking parents obtained their first mortgage, on a three bed-roomed semi. It was such a step up in the world! I went to the local girls’ grammar school and tried to learn a new accent, in order to fit in. It wasn’t easy. But maybe writers should never really fit in…
When I left school I went to University College London, and in 1969 gained a first class honours degree in English Language and Literature. In 1968 I married my first husband, the broadcaster and writer Jonathan Dimbleby. We met in our second year (he was a philosophy student) and married in a whirlwind after knowing each other just four months. Our marriage was a real meeting of minds and was to last for 35 years, until 2003. Jonathan is one of the best, most wonderful people I have ever met. Still.
When I graduated I expected to go back to Uni and do a PhD as invited by my department, but I was seduced down the primrose path of journalism, and have never regretted not writing that thesis on Sylvia Plath and Virginia Woolf. Anyway, I am now a Fellow of UCL and hold honorary degrees from Bath University and Liverpool John Moores – so, if I wanted, could dip my toe into university life once more.
My first job was on the now-legendary magazine NOVA, which was very exciting, as it used some of the best writers, photographers and designers around. I was Assistant to the Editor, then a feature writer, then contributing editor. After that I had a contract with the Telegraph Magazine, contributed to the Sunday Times, Guardian etc, and was a regular with the New Statesman, under the inspiring editorship of Anthony Howard. Later still I wrote columns variously in the Sunday Times, Cosmopolitan, the Listener and the Daily Mirror.
In 1974 Jonathan and I had Daniel, then in 1975 our second son Tom was stillborn, and in 1980 we had Kitty. At that time we moved to Bath and I began another career as a broadcaster, making programmes for radio and television. I also began to write fiction, starting with ‘The Windsurf Boy’ (1983) and then the first ‘Kitty’ book, ‘I Don’t Want To’ (1985). In 2005 I began a new strand of my career, writing a weekly advice column for The Times, and in 2007 I took that column to The Daily Mail.
In September 2007 I married the photographer Robin Allison-Smith. We live in Bath with our small white dog, a Maltese called Bonnie (of course!) We like doing travel pieces together and riding around on Robin’s Harley-Davidson ‘Fat Boy’ and dancing to the 1972 Wurlitzer and eating and drinking and going to the theatre and hanging out with friends and with Dan and Kitty. Robin and I have set up a company ‘Moon Media’ which offers photography and words, sometimes together. Contact www.robinallisonsmith.co.uk to discuss possibilities. We are also co-owners of a boutique ski chalet in the French Alps, so if you are interested in a wonderful holiday (beautiful in summer too) www.broski.co.uk.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 10, 2018
Goodbye Pet & see you in Heaven.
I wanted to start this review with a picture of my own beloved small white dog, lost to me last year on Easter. Austin was a 'soul dog', an idea that Bel describes in this book and one that I've thought of for a long time. The idea of a pet but one with an unearthly connection- that was what Austin was for me, and what Bonnie was for Bel. This book takes you though the emotional journey of losing such a creature, and the impact it can have on your life. 'Just a dog/cat/fish/bird' simply does not apply when one looses a pet, and this is reinforced throughout this book.
I've spoken about my animals in other reviews, because they are as much a part of my every day life as the books I read. Even this very minute, both cats are curled up next to me (Ivan and Redforde) while an anxious Paddy watches the front door (he knows 'Daddy' will be home from work soon) and every few minutes you can hear an excited huff from the backyard as my other two dogs chase each other and play with a deflated ball. In fact, even as I wrote that sentence Bowie pulled into the driveway, and Paddy has abandoned his staring at the door to jump excitedly through the house; Bowie is never home at the same time every day, and yet around twenty minutes before he gets here, Paddy begins staring at the door. How does he know?
Bel speaks of moments of grief, and the idea of being able to hold some physical remembrance of Bonnie. That too spoke to me, as I wanted something to remember Austin. I had his ashes put in a lovely box, and a scrap of his hair put into a velvet pouch. But something still bothered me, and it took over a year from his death for me to enact it. I had always said I wanted to take all the dogs to the beach, and I never did it while Austin was with us. On my recent holiday, we finally did it, and took Paddy too, who joined our family two months after we lost Austin. (Another thing Bel speaks of is her 'guilt' of getting another dog so soon after losing Bonnie- but I did the same thing with Paddy. Something told me I NEEDED another small dog to keep my company during the day, as Austin had done. Paddy has turned out to be Bowie's soul dog, so I know I made the right decision)
The dogs all had the greatest day, and we humans enjoyed it too. Grief is something that doesn't have a use by date, and as I watched the waves and felt the sun I knew Austin would be happy we were remembering him.
As you might be able to tell, reading this book I also picked up during these holidays stirred up my emotions for Austin, and the hole he left that terrible day. But I can still smile and remember his antics, and the reason his ashes are inscribed with 'Here lies Dumb Dog'. This is a book for animal lovers everywhere, and anyone who has lost that special friend. Five stars!
I wanted to start this review with a picture of my own beloved small white dog, lost to me last year on Easter. Austin was a 'soul dog', an idea that Bel describes in this book and one that I've thought of for a long time. The idea of a pet but one with an unearthly connection- that was what Austin was for me, and what Bonnie was for Bel. This book takes you though the emotional journey of losing such a creature, and the impact it can have on your life. 'Just a dog/cat/fish/bird' simply does not apply when one looses a pet, and this is reinforced throughout this book.
I've spoken about my animals in other reviews, because they are as much a part of my every day life as the books I read. Even this very minute, both cats are curled up next to me (Ivan and Redforde) while an anxious Paddy watches the front door (he knows 'Daddy' will be home from work soon) and every few minutes you can hear an excited huff from the backyard as my other two dogs chase each other and play with a deflated ball. In fact, even as I wrote that sentence Bowie pulled into the driveway, and Paddy has abandoned his staring at the door to jump excitedly through the house; Bowie is never home at the same time every day, and yet around twenty minutes before he gets here, Paddy begins staring at the door. How does he know?
Bel speaks of moments of grief, and the idea of being able to hold some physical remembrance of Bonnie. That too spoke to me, as I wanted something to remember Austin. I had his ashes put in a lovely box, and a scrap of his hair put into a velvet pouch. But something still bothered me, and it took over a year from his death for me to enact it. I had always said I wanted to take all the dogs to the beach, and I never did it while Austin was with us. On my recent holiday, we finally did it, and took Paddy too, who joined our family two months after we lost Austin. (Another thing Bel speaks of is her 'guilt' of getting another dog so soon after losing Bonnie- but I did the same thing with Paddy. Something told me I NEEDED another small dog to keep my company during the day, as Austin had done. Paddy has turned out to be Bowie's soul dog, so I know I made the right decision)
The dogs all had the greatest day, and we humans enjoyed it too. Grief is something that doesn't have a use by date, and as I watched the waves and felt the sun I knew Austin would be happy we were remembering him.
As you might be able to tell, reading this book I also picked up during these holidays stirred up my emotions for Austin, and the hole he left that terrible day. But I can still smile and remember his antics, and the reason his ashes are inscribed with 'Here lies Dumb Dog'. This is a book for animal lovers everywhere, and anyone who has lost that special friend. Five stars!
August 14, 2017
Bel Mooney was the owner to a small Maltese dog Bonnie, who had lived with her through a marriage that broke down, living by herself and now was living with her and her second husband at a rural property. When Bonnie gets older and sicker Bel thought that she was prepared for when she would die, but when it happens she is surprised by the grief that she feels losing her small companion and friend.
Not only does she tell her story, but she talks with other pet owners who understand the loss of a beloved companion. You may need a tissue, it may have made my mascara run a little.
Not only does she tell her story, but she talks with other pet owners who understand the loss of a beloved companion. You may need a tissue, it may have made my mascara run a little.
March 20, 2018
I lost my little pug Dolly this month and I found this book extremely comforting. Pets are family and she meant so much to me, but I needed reassurance that my feelings mattered. Bel gave me that.
May 6, 2019
Moving and thought-provoking look at the loss of a pet and our relationships with our animals. I would imagine brings comfort to many.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews