Portland State Magazine Fall 2016

24 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2016 Traisman was a recent graduate of PSU’s School of Social Work when she approached DoveLewis with the idea. Pet loss was such a new and little-known field at the time that several veterinarian offices turned her down before DoveLewis agreed to give it a try. Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, Traisman’s program is one of the oldest in the country, and she is recognized nationally as a pioneer and leader in the field. Many Portland pet owners turn to DoveLewis at some point for emergency animal care. The nonprofit, 24-hour hospital treats about 15,000 animals every year, many of them in life-and-death situations. When they don’t survive, Traisman is there—for both the owners and the clinic staff who deal with trauma and loss every day. “Enid is like a gem for the Portland community,” says Ron Morgan, DoveLewis president and CEO. “She’s very beloved here, not just by the people who come to see her, but by the staff.” GROWING UP in Chicago, Traisman was the animal lover in her family. She was the kid who was always finding a bird with a broken wing or kittens born in a field and bringing them to the local vet. “I never liked Barbie dolls or anything; I was totally all about the critters,” she says. Yet she didn’t want to be a vet, because she doesn’t like blood. Instead, she studied human development and family life as an undergraduate at the University of Kansas. (“The next best thing to animals are cute little kids,” she says.) After working in a day care center and a private psychiatric hospital for adolescents, she enrolled in PSU’s social work program with her husband, David, whom she had first met in kindergarten. Today they are the parents of two grown children. Traisman was first drawn to grief work when she worked in a neonatal intensive care unit at Kaiser in her second year at PSU. Recognizing the importance of the grieving process, the hospital had started to give parents who had lost a baby more time to say good-bye. They would swaddle the baby, bring a rocking chair to the room and make footprints as a memorial. “What I saw, in addition to deep sadness, was that with some support and validation, the human spirit could begin to cope and heal,” she says. Around the same time, she read a book by a social worker who had started one of the first pet loss support programs on the East Coast. She had found her calling: a career that combines her love of animals and grief work. She later added art to the mix by leading art therapy workshops and creating pet memorial artwork. Her colorful fused glass pieces brighten the walls throughout DoveLewis. DESPITE BEING surrounded by loss, Traisman finds her work to be uplifting. “I don’t feel like I have to fix people in grief or do anything other than open my arms, either literally or figuratively, provide support and understanding, and allow them to get their feelings out,” she says. “I know they are going to heal, and I know grief is a normal process.” The sadness is a reflection of the love they felt for their pet and the meaning of the relationship in their lives, she says, no matter if it’s a duck or a dog. Debbie Conrad sought help from Traisman after she lost her golden retriever, Lonny. It was a dark time, she recalls, but sharing her story and listening to others helped her heal. “Enid’s the light at the beginning of the tunnel,” says Conrad. “It’s that little beacon that says we’re here, you’ve got to go through this, but here’s a light to guide you.” Fourteen months after she lost Lonny, Conrad called Traisman and told her she was ready to open her heart to another dog. Traisman, known for her skill as a pet matchmaker, found Champ, a golden retriever in need of a new home. Champ was aggres- sive when scared, unsocialized and suffering from allergies when he was adopted, Conrad says, but with patience and love, he turned into a sweet dog. To give back to the program that helped her so much, Conrad started assisting in art therapy sessions and leading support groups when Traisman was gone. Now she is one class away from becoming certified in pet loss support herself. Traisman taught her that “grief comes from a place of love,” she says, “and the love doesn’t disappear.” THE ANNIVERSARY of Huey’s death in June was a tough time for Wilson, and she returned to DoveLewis for extra support. She credits Traisman with helping her find the strength to tell her story, first in the group and eventually, she hopes, in a book and through a foundation. “It was wonderful meeting other people who felt the same things that I felt,” Wilson says. “We’re not imagining this. We’re not crazy. These are our kids, and we’d do anything for them—even when they are gone.”  Suzanne Pardington is a staff member in the PSU Office of University Communications. Enid Traisman has her own pets, Trixie, seen here, and another dog and a cat. She also regularly fosters orphaned animals.