"What would Shelley do?"

This thought is what I often ask myself when trying to navigate tough situations at work. I am so very grateful for the time I had with Shelley as my boss and my mentor. So inspiring the way she navigated through life and her work. I find myself thinking of her often and leaning on her spirit for advice.

I came across an email today with the link to this site and I thought what better way to honor her in this moment than to leave her a message here. I cannot believe that it's been almost two years without her here, mainly because we talk about her often so her presence is still very much alive.

So grateful to have had you (Shelley) in my life. I will never forget the meaningful lessons you shared, the way you laughed, the spirit you brought to each day, and the support you mad me feel. Miss you and grateful for you!

My heart goes out to Robert and Jonah, you two are my thoughts and prayers.

Today is Shelley's 2nd heavenly birthday and I am missing her BIG! That said, I have many great memories of her birthday season as she would put it, feeling that a birthday simply could not be adequately nor properly celebrated in just one day; Typical Shelley style.

Today, family and friends have sent emails, texts, and calls remembering and celebrating Shelley. It has been uplifting to hear from so many - Thank you!

Tonight Jonah and I are going to dinner at one of Shelley's favorite sushi places to remember and celebrate her. Here is to our Shelley... ❤️

Thinking of you today, like everyday. Remembering all the great advventures. Miss you.

I finally planted your tree. Next to the hot tub since that was such a favorite. Everyday I miss you. Loving our tattoo, remembering our talks. All of your text messages erased the other day and it felt like losing you all over again. I know this is going to get easier. You remain the voice in my head and a driving force in my life. I love you. I will add the pic of-the tree! 

Woman, this is your Man writing you a note (we affectionately talked to each other this way many times instead of our names)! :-)

It is three days past the first anniversary of your passing. Many of us who loved you shared texts, phone calls, and emails with each other, consoling and encouraging each other as we talked about you. I cannot tell you how much you are missed by many who loved you; I miss you terribly. I still find myself waking up at night and reaching over to feel for you only to find the bed empty...

Jonah and I commemorated the day by dining at your favorite Italian restaurant, Cafe Jordano (the first place you and I had a proper dinner date!). We enjoyed your favorites: Mussels in white wine and butter sauce, followed by Chicken Marsala and Pino to drink. We talked about old and new things and shared some of our favorite stories and times with you at the center.

I miss you more than words can even begin to convey.

Love,

Your Man

Dear Shelley,
I cannot tell you how many times I drive by the neighborhood and want to call and drop in on you.  I miss you, my friend.  I am having a hard time believing it has been a year since we lost you.  It seems it was just a short time ago we reunited and had brunch at Lazy Dogs.  I miss talking to you.  Michelle, Linda, and I are trying to keep up our girl's weekends.  It has not happened without you as of yet and when we finally get together you will always be with us. Love you!!!

Thinking of you today so much, Shelley! I cannot believe it's been a year that I got that crushing phone call that you had passed, and I collapsed in tears on the bed. I wish I had known that you were nearing the end and that we were not going to get that girls weekend that we were in the middle of rescheduling. I wish I had seen you one last time. Us three girls reminisce about you often and just had time together again to talk about you and honor you. You are loved and you are missed!

Happy Birthday, Shelley!!

There is no way to fully know a presence that is larger than life
The ocean will slip through anyone ones grasp
there is no way to hold it.

Still, we find ourselves gulping full-bodied
Stroking the waves
Running against the tide
Basking in every
Living drop

I cannot name Shelley in full
And as I look across the memories of her full,
passionate
Life,
I am sure that none of us can

We each got droplets of her.
A warm embrace
A long run in pre-dawn’s depths
A sunrise she imbued with her laughter
All of these drops
Adding up to the ocean
We call
Shelley Clark Dodd

One we thought could never run dry

It hurt when it did
When her husband watch the last wave of her smile
fall back into the sunset
When she joined the ancestral plane
As one of the Great Souls of our time

Running was her passion
And we she took her last step
We all felt the tide recede

In every tear we shed, there is a piece of their
In every breeze, we feel her guidance
We catch her sly smile telling us like it is
In every glimmer of light, we catch

And when our minds grow soft enough
To listen to our own breath
We hear her
The ocean
On the other side of source energy
Training for her marathon in the sky

It’s last minute, but I’m a puddle of tears every time I read these beautiful tributes!
Shelley was a life changer for everyone she met…
If you knew me, you knew Shelley and the many adventures we shared. Inseparable for many years - not always together, but also never far apart. She was a lover of life, people and her family! “Work hard, play harder”, she used to say, and so much more! Her drive for adventure, unforgettable laughter, never ending smile and amazing ability to accomplish anything she set her mind to doing is how I will remember her. Forever in my heart Shelley! ❤️

I only met Shelley on two all-too-short occasions and was immediately taken with her energy and warmth. We quickly connected over our passion for running and adventure; when we met, I was a full-time professional athlete - and yet her drive and determination were an inspiration to me. Shelley, you are missed.

Shelley Dodd, where do I begin? I will never forget the day I met Shelley at the 18th Judicial District Attorney's office where she began her role as my boss for 8 years. I could write an entire series on Shelley's impact in 1) the diversion program and 2) my life and the many lives she touched. WOW, Shelley you are larger than life. When I learned you were leaving this world all I could think was, "Shelley is larger than life". You continue to be larger than life even in your death. You taught me how to believe in myself. You believed in me MORE than I believed in myself. I wouldn't have obtained my therapy license if it weren't for you. I wouldn't have accomplished my teen media project and subsequently winning FOUR Emmys without your support and constant cheerleading. I remember coming to you at work one day with a notepad, VERY nervous to share my project idea with you. I kept stalling and you said, "JOY just say it already!!" with a laugh and a smile. When I told you my idea you said, "Great. My best advice is JUST START". And I did, and off we were to accomplishing dreams beyond our WILDEST imaginations. You taught me the beauty of manifesting and I'll always remember the dream box we had in the office. I loved going through it with you and marking off all of the cool things that came TRUE. We always laughed at the magic we created because we almost couldn't believe it. Your laugh is forever in my heart. Your words are always in my mind. Your smile and belief in everyone inspires me to be more like you, every day. It doesn't feel real that you aren't here in the physical realm, but you're probably laughing at me while I'm writing this saying...."remember all of the Esther Hicks CD's we listened to??? Well now I get to really LIVE on the other side of source energy". Wow, Shelley. You changed my life and truly saved me in so many ways. I love you and I will keep talking to you. I cherish our physical human time together. Be free, and so it is. xo Joy

I've put this off for far too long.... 

I met Shelley after she married Robert, my best friend since 7th grade - 48 years now. It took just that first meeting, chatting with her and Robert, to understand they were soul mates, to understand what Robert saw in her.

Shelley was one of the Great Souls. Her heart, her energy, her love of life, the outdoors, her passion for people, especially children and their families - few among us will ever have such an impact on so many people.

Robert and Shelley were always there if I needed a friend, a shoulder, some advice. Shelley had a great sense of humor, and was always supportive of me. When they reached out about her diagnosis, I answered their questions as best I could, helping them navigate a medical nightmare no one would ever want.

It was my honored privilege to be at their sides during Shelley's final days. She passed peacefully, with a smile for Robert in her final moments.

Love you both very much!

Shelley was an amazing person.

I met Shelley in 2019 when she joined our team at Newport Healthcare. She took the time to get to know me as a person, not just a team member, and I could call her anytime for support and guidance. Shelley became a mentor to me and helped push me to be a better person and leader. She had a way of "just telling you how it was" and helping you to see things from a much different perspective. When things got tough, she always had a way to calm the team and inspire us. I am truly so grateful to have known her and worked with her for the time I did. I am thankful I had the opportunity to spend time with her in September at out Leadership Summit. We had a blast on the scavenger hunt, lol...she knew how to have a great time. Her wisdom and guidance will remain with me. I truly wouldn't be where I am in my career today had it not been for Shelley pushing me. Though she is no longer with us...she will never be forgotten.
Love you Shelley!!!

So very missed while so much love for Aunt Shelley remains. An amazing aunt on top of an amazing person. She stays with us forever in our hearts

I met Shelley through my friend Dana and we all became fast friends and running buddies. We ran many long training runs in the pre dawn's darkness. We admired Christmas lights and sunrises and laughed a lot. One particular morning, Shelley appeared with these little black sacks and inside was the coolest bracelet I’d ever seen! It was silver with an arrow on the outside and this phrase on the inside (keep fucking going) and I totally loved it! That bracelet got me through a lot of hard times and hard races and I always thought of Shelley when times got tough! Dana and I got a tattoo of it as a tribute to Shelley and her never give up attitude! She will be missed, but never forgotten and I’m sure she is now training for a marathon in the sky ❤️‍♀️

Like so many others, I met Shelley through running.
A few years back, my good friends Dana and Karen were training for marathons and ultras. They introduced me to Shelley during one of their long training blocks.These athletes allowed me to tag along and try to keep up. I often found myself at the back of their pack, struggling to hang on, but getting stronger.

Many times, Robert would also come along on his bicycle, serving as traffic control and photographer. While Robert and I were together at the back, traveling in the shadows of these powerful women, we developed an understanding and a bond.
It was “the Shelley, Dana and Karen” show and we had front row seats. He and I had long conversations, discussing his history, how he found Shelley and what she meant to him.

During these several conversations, I learned a lot about Shelley and Robert and their relationship. They had a love for each other that was so obvious and so inspiring.

Robert and I were privileged to join Shelley and Dana at the 2019 Cowtown ultramarathon in Fort Worth. The ladies both ran exceptionally well and completed their ultramarathons with relative ease and style. Of course, there’s no real “ease” in an ultra, but relatively speaking……

Though so many of our get-togethers focused on running and racing, the real fun came afterward, during the post race festivities. It’s not just about the competition and achievements. It’s really about the relationships made and nurtured.

Shelley and Robert understood that and promoted that. They are two people I will never forget. Shelley will be Forever Missed. 
I love you guys. Always will.

Where do I start with a story about Shelley, this friendship has taken us all over the world, through marriage, kids, divorce and then finding the real Mr. RIGHT, through the deep pains of life and the highest of highs of life. She was my partner in crime, my therapist, my work travel plus one, my adventure, my motivator...my closest friend.

I met Shelley at a personal growth seminar- we had to choose a stranger for a buddy to go through the seminar with and she walked across the room stood in front of me and said "I choose you".  From then on we were inseparable.  That girl worked her way into my soul. That was almost 20 years ago now. When we left that week at the ranch, she said, " I only have room in my life for a handful of friends because to be a friend of mine, we gotta be willing to take a bullet for the other"-I learned how to be that kind of friend-she showed me.

Through the years of this great adventure, we showed up for each-other, whatever that took! She drove all night with me from California to Colorado to move out of a situation that wasn't creating my best life, She once called on a Thursday and said, " Hey can you get to Vegas tomorrow, I am getting married and I need ya there" - YOU bet!!
We studied together and worked to create our best lives, and that we did!  There was no goal out of our reach if we could name it and the failures we always decided were the very best teachers and above all, we learned to always be GRATFUl. 

There is no way to capture all the stories...we had planned to walk through them together again in our rocking chairs in our 80's, certainly not now.  We made so many"rocking chair stories" that was the call to action when what we were gonna do was a little crazy or wild! " This will be one for the rocking chairs" we would say...Not sure how its gonna work without her, still figuring that out.

She was someone that made the world better, she taught by example. Find the positive, that was the rule.  Create the world you want to live in and don't pay attention to what isn't working but what is...we were relentless in that practice together. 

In her final days, she was still teaching me...I showed up for the biggest pain and the biggest love experience of a human lifetime... to understand her and me on a level I had never imagined. This year has brought the biggest heart break as well as the biggest learnings, thanks to my forever Buddy. We mounted our biggest bravest horses for this race against the odds, learned about physics, the mind body connection, truth and the center of everything being love, its really all that matters. We learned how to become grateful even for cancer - the lessons it teaches, not sure I feel that way now although she did. In the end, she kept her sense of humor, she said to tell you all..."She won!" She had an incredible life of love and amazing friends, family and colleagues and she killed every cancer cell in her body!
She had the ride of her life and I am grateful that I got to share as much of it as I did! She leaves a gap impossible to ever fill. She told Robert and I, that she had the easy part, the gut wrench of going on without her is hard...she was probably right, AGAIN!

I will love her and all she has meant to me until its my time to join her in the great unknown. She said I would find her in the wind...and I do. 

What I will miss about Shelley:
1. Hearing "Kathy Riggs!"  Or "MAN" when she calls for Robert and"Monkey" when she calls for Jonah- I will forever hear that voice in my head
2. That complete open heart and voice of acceptance in so many forms
3. Her willingness to be up for any adventure
4. Her laugh
5. Her brilliant mind- that girl was so smart
6. Her unconditional way of loving - she would not allow self deprecation, she would say, "I cant let you talk about my friend that way"
7. Our "solving all the worlds problems" talks
8. He ability to see the greatness in people especially when they could not
9. Our All day in PJ's traditions- talking about life
10. Her willingness to defend and heal the struggle of mental disorders- she made the world a better place and me a better person.

What I learned this last year with Shelley...
1. All we have and truly know is this present moment- make it count
2. Vulnerability is painful, yet beautiful because it allows us to see the truth of ourselves, accept it and then experience the deepest possible love
3. The life we are living now can change in one moment, we are not in control so wasting time doing things that don't make us thrive is truly dumb
4. A sense of humor is everything
5. Sometimes silence is just what we need
6. Mind over matter works for a lot, maybe not everything, but a lot more than you would believe!
7. To have a friend that will ride through life with you with your best interest at heart is what real friendship is all about- never take that for granted, cuz its rare!
8. We are stronger than we think, when called to serve, there is no bigger honor
9. Life isn't fair, sometimes it makes no sense at all, quit whining and get over it and focus back on this moment
10. The people we love are by far the most precious gift this life has to offer...LOVE BIG!!! Everyday...

A beautiful website for a beautiful person, Robert. Though we've never met, I feel the sting 40 years later as I lost my dad as Jonah has lost his mom, also at such a young age when in the middle of so much help to so many. My prayers are with you both, and that Shelley's spirit and memory drive every purpose in your days ahead.

I met Shelley in 2011 while visiting my brother Robert in Colorado.  During my first evening at their home we were deciding what to do for dinner. My Brother suggested Sushi. I said, “Sushi… What’s that?” Shelley replied, “Sushi it is.” I’ve enjoyed Sushi ever since. While discussing her work, she gave an overview of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and how it was being used to help people cope with their traumas. Her passion and enthusiasm persuaded me to read a book on the topic. Shelley was always positive… always on the Up. Everyday was a new day; an opportunity to live in the present. I’m going to remember the good times.
Shelley, we’ll see you later.

I'm in tears writing this. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Shelley when I became an admin assistant for Newport Healthcare's Kirkland team. I always looked up to her because of her positive energy and in my eyes she was a woman of strength. She truly cared about our Kirkland team and was there for us when we needed her and would always cheer us on! I'm so glad I had the opportunity to work with her and learn from. My sincere condolences to Shelley's family. Thank you for setting this up so that her friends and loved ones can leave tributes. She was an amazing woman and will be missed dearly.

I was saddened to read about Shelly’s passing today. Right before reading the paper I was sharing a story about Shelly, Johnny and their mother and father, Sandy and Chuck. So this was such a shock to read. You see I was once their babysitter, I lived a block away from the Dodds. I always loved babysitting Shelly and Johnny, they were so well behaved compared to my seven siblings. I’m sending my condolences and my prayers of comfort to her family. 
Patty Hunnefeld Alongi

I met Shelley in 2013 when she brought me in to support her son with his schoolwork. I was honored to be invited into such a loving family and to get to know such a remarkable woman. From the first day we met, I could see how devoted Shelley was to her family and the sweet animals who shared her home. Over the years since, I was always inspired by her beautiful spirit and the positive energy she infused into her work, home, and play. I am a better person for having known her, and will truly miss knowing that she is in the world, making it a better place.

We knew Shelley only briefly, but she had a beautiful spirit.

Shelley and I were neighbors, friends, and classmates.  Shelley was one of the first friends I made in Florida. We were in 5th grade at the time however we did not meet in school.  Shelley and my dear friend Michelle knocked on my door to let me know that my dog was injured because he had gotten out of our house.  I used to drive her to school daily. It was a routine to get out of my car go into her house and wake her up to get her butt in my car for school. It was amazing how she could wake up and look amazing in minutes. We were never late.  She definitely knew how to live life and enjoy every second. We reconnected last year after she let me know she moved to Vegas.  She literally lived only minutes from me.  I am so happy we were able to spend time together again.  Exactly one year ago from the weekend, she passed we had an incredible weekend with our childhood friends Michelle and Linda.  It was the most special time that I will never forget.  Years without being together never changed our friendships.  It was an amazing, special, and precious time the four of us had together.  Shelley you are missed and I think about you daily. I wish we had more time together and more memories to make.  I will always cherish the special time we had together.

Shelley was an amazing friend.

I met Shelley in 2019 when she came to the team at Newport Healthcare. Her energy and vitality were apparent from the first call I had with her. Shelley was eminently capable and when she joined the organization she made an immediate impact with her spirit. In mid 2020 I became a father and started a new job and we developed a great friendship. We met every week to run the 10 mile loop around Back Bay in Newport Beach. We talked about everything, Spanish soap operas, family, work. We did a lot of laughing while running. I was facing a lot of challenges as the time (new job, new baby, COVID) and my time with Shelley always left me feeling stronger and happier. As a runner she was in a class all her own, unbelievably strong and fast. 

Shelley did everything with class, energy, and confidence. She is dearly missed.