Stabilizing Force w/ Lisa Miller
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The Way A Dog Brought Stability And Structure To Lisa Miller’s Family
About The Episode
Lisa’s parents got a dog when she went away to college so she never really had a dog growing up. Then as an adult and as a mother, her daughter had been asking for a dog for years and Lisa promised her one by the time she was nine years old (not thinking she would remember). The time came along and the daughter kept bringing it up, which led Lisa down the road of looking for one.
In her search, she ended up finding a woman in Texas who fostered dogs. They fell in love with one in particular, who was Callie, and eventually they were able to adopt her. Having that dog brought structure, organization, and stability to their family. She was their anchor.
The weekend they got Callie happened to be Hurricane Sunday. Now, during another catastrophe with the coronavirus situation, the dog has been providing Lisa and her family with comfort and structure during this scary and unknown period. Taking her for a walk has brought comfort and forced her to get out the house, feel like she can have a temporary feeling of normalcy (or at least her usual routine), and see other humans out while social distancing.
Callie, the dog, has been loving having everyone home all the time. And Lisa’s also taken the lesson from her that you only have so much control on the world and in the future, and sometimes you have to just find solace in being together with the people you love and that being enough right now – just like her dog.
About The Guest - Lisa Miller
Lisa Miller is a staff writer and Contributing Editor at New York Magazine. Her dog, Callie, came to her during the time of Hurricane Sandy and is now helping her through an even worse catastrophe with the coronavirus and its quarantine situation. Taking her dog Callie on their routine of walks is a return, even if just briefly, to normalcy during these strange, uncertain times. Recently, she wrote an article for The Cut (Walking the Dog Is the Only Time I Feel Sane) about this, too.
Featured Links
The Cut article by Lisa Miller, “Walking The Dog Is The Only Time I Feel Sane” - https://www.thecut.com/2020/03/walking-the-dog-is-the-only-time-i-feel-sane.html
Lisa Miller’s website - https://lisaxmiller.com
Lisa Miller on Twitter - https://twitter.com/lisaxmiller
New York Magazine’s website - https://nymag.com
The Cut’s website - https://www.thecut.com