A piece of my heart died today.

Shadow lost his short battle with cancer.

He went outside, laid down in the sunshine by the pool, fell asleep and never woke up. I couldn’t have asked for a more peaceful end for such an amazing dog. But it still hurts. A lot.

He was my Shadow, my Stinkbug, my Little Man, my Snoopy Dog. He helped me learn to live all by myself. He snuggled with me when I was sick, when I had anxiety, when I had surgery. He made me laugh harder than I’ve ever laughed. He even made it into that one infamous Christmas card:

Shadow had a rough start in life – found tied to a tire, sick from drinking bad water, he ended up the animal shelter at just two years old. I hope I was able to make that up to him in love over the last 10 years.

One of my most favorite memories with him was the one day he got to run around the lake and swim off leash. We found this island, beached the boat, and off he went. Free at last to run and swim.

Until we meet again, Little Man… rest easy. Your daddy and I loved you very, very much!