A new word for our culture emerged as Matilda, a golden retriever, faithfully stood by her master, Chris, during his journey through grief and his courageous struggle with a brain tumor. The word is pet ship. In this 2006 IPPY Award winning book we define it in this way: Pet-ship (petship), n. 1. the state of being between a person and their pet. 2. feelings of understanding between a person and their pet. Two ancient feelings are addressed for our culture as Matilda and Chris tell their story. The feelings are unconditional love and sadness. My Friend, Matilda delicately and gently explores this all too familiar feeling of sadness, offering the hope that through unconditional love we will always be united with one another. Based on the true story of Chris and Matilda, Eagle Creek Publications, LLC is honored to introduce this book to you. Pets can teach us so many things if we just open our hearts to their language. We are committed to listening to words and, if we are going to journey through our grief with integrity, then we need to learn how to hear the language of our hearts. I watched Matilda and Chris when I visited with them. I saw how Matilda acted AND how Chris acted. His story is filled with sadness ? the death of his father and his own battle with cancer. Through it all, Matilda's love demonstrated the value of petship.