Raising Artemis is, at its core, a story about the kind of grief that rearranges an existence — the quiet, brutal, raw grief of the loss of loved animals who were witnesses to a soul throughout the various chapters of life. It follows Artemis, a woman coming apart at the seams from a life fraught with grief, and the eventual healing and awakening. The story unfolds around the two cats who refuse to let her disappear: one she’s mourning with a tenderness that still startles her, and one who arrives like a small, insistent heartbeat reminding her she’s still here. For every pet parent who has ever wondered if their beloved companions still linger close, this book leans into the truth we feel in our bones: they do. As fiercely as they loved us in life, they continue to guide us from beyond, slipping into our days in ways only the heart can interpret. This story honors that wordless communion — that strange, sacred language shared between humans and the beings who don’t need words to understand. Christine has beautifully and creatively written a love letter to the animals who stay, who light our path long after their physical being has left the earth, and who teach us, again and again, how to find our way back to ourselves.

– Coleen A. Ellis, CT, CPLP, Pet Loss Pioneer, Author & Speaker