If you are new around here, you might not know that Jeff and I are huge animal lovers. From the time I was around ten, I had begged my parents for a dog. It wasn’t until I was in seventh grade and had an English class assignment to write a persuasive essay on the topic of my choice (guess what I chose) that I finally was able to convince them to let me get a puppy.
That summer, I spent hours scouring the internet, trying to figure out what breed of puppy I wanted. My dad suggested a beagle, and, after doing lots of research on the breed, I agreed that a beagle would be the perfect dog for our family. That August, my family grew by one, when we went to pick up 7 week old Ginger. My little 13 year old heart could not believe how much I could love an animal.
Fast forward a few years and I had moved out of the house to attend college and then graduate school. Ginger stayed behind with my parents, who spoiled her rotten. As my mom and dad would say “well that’s a grandparent’s job—to spoil their grandchildren.”
When I came home after graduating from law school, I went through a period of uncertainty, not knowing what I wanted my next step in the world to be. I had always had a next step, so that time was very difficult for me. The one thing that I could always count on to give me an excuse to get up and get moving each day was my now 12 year old dog. Her unending love, optimism and zest for life is something that I always think about when I am down. As she aged, Ginger developed arthritis in her legs, but that didn’t stop her from sitting in front of the closet where her leash was housed every morning, not-so-subtly reminding me that she still needed her morning walk. What she didn’t know was that I needed and looked forward to that walk and fresh air just as much as she did.
Jeff and I met about nine months after I graduated from law school. One of the reasons I knew that we were a good match was how much he loved Ginger. From the very beginning, she learned to sit by him when we were eating dinner because he was the one who was going to sneak her table scraps. As she got older, her separation anxiety worsened, so we both made the effort to include Ginger in as many of our outings as we could, even though it meant extra potty breaks and choosing restaurants that had outdoor dining. We knew that her time with us was fleeting and we wanted to give her as many adventures as we could. We will both be forever grateful for those memories.
June 11 would have been Ginger’s 16th birthday. At the beginning of this year, we found out that her kidneys were failing and she lived exactly one month from the time that she was diagnosed. Thanks to the care of Dr. Julia Larson and the wonderful team at Woodland Veterinary Hospital, that month was filled with trips to go exploring, plenty of table scraps, and, most importantly, plenty of love.
Ginger was part of our family for over 15 and a half years; she was my best friend for over half of my life. Her pictures still cover our walls and we smile every time we look at them. We look at these pictures and remember how we would buy her expensive bones to chew on and she would immediately take them outside to bury them. We remember how she would take her medicine and then I would tear a treat into little pieces and throw them all over the house, with her spending the rest of the night joyfully using her hound smelling skills to hunt for and eat the pieces. And we remember how she loved us all unconditionally. We miss her everyday, and I have cried multiple times writing this, but they are tears of both sadness and gratitude.
So, if you have a dog (or any pet), please give them an extra hug from us. If you have recently lost a dog or other pet, please know that our hearts are with you. And thanks to Ginger for being the best dog we ever could have asked for! We miss you, Gingy.
-Kathy
