We have passed the 1 month mark without my golden boy here with us. Loki was the embodiment of joy, and everything good in the world, and I was incredibly lucky to have been his person. He should have had more time, but he did not need more time to accomplish all he was here to do. While he was my dog, I never felt like he was a dog in the sense that Thanos is “my dog”. I was his human caretaker, he was my partner in life & work, and his life was larger than that of a pet. He was my best coworker, and is immortalized in photos and videos at many of the companies we worked with over the years. Up until the last few years, he basically had his own social life, going on adventures with so many friends, with or without me. We moved almost annually, and he got to know tons of people intimately as roommates. He would stay with my parents, and my mom would take him on his rounds around town where he would visit with her friends. He had a “fan club” of ladies out there.
Our first job out of college, he came with me everyday and was the head of the pack of dogs who would eventually run the office, and offered so much emotional support to all the younger college kids we hired over the next few years. He helped raise my boss’s puppy, who he got specifically because he wanted Loki to raise her to be as good as him. He also spent a lot of time with my sister while she was in college. I once was walking him across campus, and some strangers stopped to say hi to him, excitedly speaking to him by name. I asked if they were friends of my sister, and they looked at me like I was crazy. They knew Loki from the dorms, duh.
He helped guys meet girls, girls meet guys, was regularly sought after as a hiking buddy for various people, and became a truly professional model and acting dog. I’m sure that Loki inspired someone out there to rescue their own pup. He was my grandma’s personal therapy dog during her final years, and she did not even like dogs at all – but she loved him. He helped my mom with the grieving process after her passing. Loki was the best dog for my little niece to practice petting while she was still crawling. He was with me through 3 serious relationships, the messiest in-betweens, and he accepted life changes with a grace I couldn’t…and that gave me so much strength and stability. Almost my entire 20s, Loki was by my side. He delivered me to my 30s, and to a life where I am finally truly happy. I only wish he stayed to enjoy this chapter a little longer.
He ran with the horses constantly, and didn’t miss out on a single life experience that I would have wanted a dog to experience. He was running up until a couple weeks before his time came, and tried his hardest to put on a smile even as we walked to the yard where he would take his final breath, his head in my hands and completely at peace with his own passing. My golden boy, I’m so sorry you had to suffer even a single day, you deserved the world. 