Tonight we said good night to a dear friend. He is suffering no more. My hands shake as I write this. I hope we did the right thing. I hope he feels no pain anymore. We miss you.

Jake was my beloved friend. He was a tribute to my move to Nashville on my own. He was a wonderful dog, a running partner for Jay, a snuggler for me, a big brother and protector for Thane. Every day he taught us something new and more and showed us an even better side of himself. He was Arwen’s big brother and the two were inseparable. He kept me company on walks and on nights alone. He protected the house with his seldom heard but very scary bark. He played with us.

Here are some of my favorite memories of him. There are so many more.

-Winning 1st place in the Maggie’s Bark Park competition for his award winning high five
-”Introducing” me to James and Diane
-Dinners at James and Diane’s with Arwen
-Car rides, especially long ones to Canada or New York
-Him getting loose without a collar and James carrying him all the way back to the apartment
-Walking through Gatineau Park and trodding through the water and going after frogs jumping
-Giagia spoiling him with people food
-Getting excited about Jay putting on his sneakers for a run
-Jay coming home excited that he had made Jake tired during a long run
-Coming home from the hospital with Thane and having him watch over him
-The afternoon Thane would not stop crying, Jake looked at us, looked at the stairs, looked at us. We told him to go ahead and see if he could do better. A few minutes later we had a settled down baby and a very pleased dog
-Hearing Thane call him Jakey-buddy
-How very much he loved Thane, treated him like he was his own
-Yesterday, when I took the day off and the two of us snuggled on the couch and watched movies

Goodbye, dear friend. Watch over us.

Thane, if you read this years from now, we don’t know how to tell you your friend has passed. If we did not do it right, I am so sorry.