‘ALL WE HADWAS EACH OTHER’
Glenwood woman says dog saved her life after her husband’s death
Sharita Sloan said she lost the will to live when her husband, Michael Ellison, died of liver cancer inMay 2019.
“Hewas the love ofmy life,” said Sloan, 60, of Glenwood.“We were deliriously happy for the timewe had together.”
Sloan helps people who have experienced homelessness. She works for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. She and Ellison met about two years before he died at age 64, she said. Hewas a retired priest of Yoruba, a spiritual practice that originated inWest Africa, she said.
Sloan said she had been in previousmarriages and relationships, but that Ellisonwas her one true soul mate.
“My whole life I justwanted that guy whowas the other half of you,” she said. “Men always toldme, ‘That’s in the romance novels, you’re never going to find that.’ ”
Theyweremarried for little more than a year before he died.
“Iwouldn’t change that journey for anything even though it has caused me unspeakable grief and loneliness,” Sloan said.
One day less than two months before he died, Ellison asked Sloan if they could visit the South
SuburbanHumane Society shelter in ChicagoHeights to pet the animals. Sloan loved dogs butwas busywithwork and caring for her husband, whowas being treated with chemotherapy.
Sloan said shewas unsure about taking on the added re
sponsibility of caring for a pet, but shewanted to make her husband happy. She recounted the visit in an essay she submitted for a contest run by the Petco Foundation, a charitable group associated with the pet supply chain.
“For an hour or so, we forgot
about our battle with an insidious disease and got lost in thewonder and joy of being surrounded by animals,” she wrote.
Theywere getting ready to leave when Ellison stopped by a cage where a scared, skinny pit bull puppy cowered in a back corner.
“Michael turned to me and said, ‘Iwant to take her home,’ ” Sloan wrote in her essay. “At first I griped, thinking tomyself, ‘How will I be able to be a caretaker for Michael and handle a new puppy?’ But I relented whenmy beloved husband gave me one of his looks— the one I could never say no to.”
Sloan said as they completed the adoption paperwork they learned the malnourished puppy was foundwandering the streets.
“Shewas so skinny you could practically count her ribs,” Sloan wrote. “I kept asking Michael if hewas sure about this. Without a doubt in his mind, he looked at me and said, ‘Yes, and Iwant to call her Lola.’ ”
Lolawas Ellison’s term of endearment for Sloan. But itwas more than a “pet name.” Itwas a
“Michael gave me a final gift, a sweet and loving companion to lead me through the darkest time of my life. We rescued Lola, but in the end, Lola saved my life.”
— Sharita Sloan, 60, of Glenwood, writing about her husband’s request to adopt a dog from the South Suburban Humane Society shelter in Chicago Heights before his death last year
name with spiritual significance that Ellison and Sloan chose when they were married, she said.
“Iwas like, ‘Fine, name a dog afterme,’ but I understood, later on,” she said.
Ellison died at their Glenwood home overMemorialDayweekend last year.
“He died peacefully in my arms, Lola right there with us,” she said. “I hate that he had to go but I’m content knowing that he went in love and peace.”
In her essay, Sloan described being overcome with depression after her husband died.
“The utter grief and loss I felt for the next few monthswas indescribable,” she wrote. “I could barely move, eat, or think.”
Shewould have stopped breathing if she could, she said. The one thing that kept her goingwas that Lola needed to be fed and
taken out.
“On those days when I could not get out of bed, she curled up next to me, putting her pawacrossmy chest as if giving me a hug,” Sloan wrote in her essay. “On those dark days when my grief-ravaged mind
convincedme to give up and die, my heart reminded me that Lola needed me.”
Thatwaswhen Sloan realizedwhy Ellison wanted to name the dog Lola.
“Allwe hadwas each other,” she wrote. “Michael gave me a final gift, a sweet and loving companion to lead me through the darkest time ofmy life. We rescued Lola, but in the end, Lola savedmy life.”
Petco Foundation chose Sloan’s submission as one of 50 finalists in the contest and awarded South SuburbanHumane Society $5,000. The storywas in the running for a $100,000 grand prize to be awarded to a pet adoption organization.
Readers voted online this month. Sloan’s story was the top vote-getter until the final days of the contest, said Emily Klehm, CEO of South Suburban Humane Society.
“I thinkwe ended up in fifth or sixth place, but it’s OK,” Klehm said. “The whole gift of having that storywas knowing that story existed. It really made an impact on me and the whole staff here.”
The $100,000would have been especially helpful because the humane society is building a new facility off Central Avenue near Lincoln Highway in Matteson. The agency plans to open the new center in 2022.
Like many nonprofit organizations, the humane society reaches out to clients to ask for financial support, Klehm said. Sloan wanted to help, but had no money to give, Klehm said.
“This storywas away she could give something back,” Klehm said.
The humane society cared for about 3,500 animals in 2019, according to an annual report published on itswebsite. The organizationwas founded in 1970 and operates a satellite facility inHomewood in addition to itsmain shelter in ChicagoHeights.
In Glenwood, Lola still climbs into Sloan’s bed, the way she did when Sloan was practically paralyzed with grief after her husband’s death.
“She’s spoiled nowbecause nowshe thinks she’s supposed to do it all the time now,” Sloan said. “At the time, that’s what I needed. It kept me going. She lived for me until I could live formyself.”