She struggled with the sudden passing of her mother Patricia last year, and now Jennifer Love Hewitt reveals how one dog helped her get through the loss.
In the Fall 2013 issue of Modern Dog magazine, the "Ghost Whisperer" beauty opened up about her mom and shared details on how her dog Duke turned her mood around.
Check out a few highlights from Miss Love Hewitt's interview below. For more, be sure to visit Modern Dog!
On finding Duke:
"I was working on 'The Client List' and I was directing an episode this season and I’m friends with this wonderful actress named Elaine Hendrix. She does such amazing work with animals (with Animal Rescue Corp) and actually has this find-your-mate matchmaking organization for people and pets. So we were on the set talking and I was asking her how it was going—had she found a lot of animals homes—she was just so passionate about it. I had never had a rescue before, and…this year has been very difficult for me in that my mother passed away extraordinarily suddenly and she’s always been my best friend. And so when I was thinking about an animal this time, I was thinking, you know, I have been somebody who felt very lost. Very abandoned by the universe. And very much like how these dogs must feel: like, there’s nothing wrong with you, you’re just not found yet. So when Elaine was talking about animals, she was talking about it that way. And I thought: wow, maybe I have more of a connection now; maybe this is why I’ve never had a rescue before. This year, I’ve had a million moments where I felt I just needed to be rescued, and I’ve had to do that for myself. When she was talking about it, it really touched me in a place it hadn’t before. So I (told her), I’d love to maybe find a dog at some point… It was not meant to be in any sort of rushed situation. It was meant to be maybe, you know, next year I’ll find a dog. We finished up the episode, and she called me a couple days later and said, “I do have this one dog. He’s very special. ..He’s just a love. He’s 65 pounds but he thinks he’s five pounds and he constantly wants to be in your lap. Maybe you should take a look at him.” So I said great, can I take him for the weekend? She went through all the proper channels…I had him for one weekend and when I had to give him back…my heart sank. And so we decided to keep him. And it’s been great. I get now why people rescue dogs…It was a lesson I had to learn. It’s been very healing for me. I feel I really came out of a fog. He’s lifted me up."
On her mother:
"I think it taught me staying power. I learned at a really young age you don’t get anything necessarily easy. For some people you do just wake up one day and you get one part and you’re a big star. For me, it wasn’t that way. I really worked. I always had jobs. I haven’t so-called “struggled” in the industry, but I’ve always worked. I feel really glad that was my experience. I’m happy that I didn’t just come out and do one movie and then I was a massive superstar and people were throwing money and deals at me. I think at a young age it would’ve made me a complete disaster. And I wouldn’t be who I am today. What I really liked about my experiences is that I just worked…I was a workhorse. I learned rejection at an early age, which can go either way—it can either be a negative or a positive—but for me, it was a positive. Out of that rejection, I learned a stronger sense of self. I learned: no, that isn’t about me, that’s about them and about what they need. I learned I’m still a good, talented person and I’m just going to stay the course. I learned real ambition and drive. I also had an incredible mother who taught me all of those things. I think if I’d been one of those kids who sort of just got dropped off here without guidance, I don’t think things would’ve been this way so I give her 100 percent credit for all of that. I worked and had to earn everything and because I had to earn everything, I was grateful for it. And I still am. I’ve had the best of both worlds. I got to do work that I love and learn some really valuable life lessons along the way."
On spoiling her new pal:
"Duke has his own trailer. It says Duke's Room on the door. He has his water and toys and treats and he hangs out, and in between takes we hang out together. Everyone on the set stops by Duke's Room for a visit. If you can't find a cast member, they're in Duke's Room."
