This was Mali on our last day with us. I took her outside to feel the warmth of the sun one more time.
I share this image because you can still see the smile on her face. A face that is still eager to play, even though she physically couldn’t. A face looking for something to chase. A face so full of good memories from her 13 years with me… countless hikes, swims, runs, road trips, and on and on. She changed my life by guiding me to these healing places in nature.
Her last two years were slower and calmer than her first 11, but she didn’t seem to mind it. It was in those last two years that our daughter really got to bond, know, and love Mali. This meant the world to me because when we got her diagnosis in February 2022, she was only given three months to live, and our daughter really would have never had a memory of her if she hadn’t had such a will to live as long as she possibly could with a family she loved.
Mali is the reason my wife and I are together. She loved her so very much as well in the 8.5 years she was in her life. I’d like to think everyone who knew Mali loved her, and Mali loved them in return, with generous kisses and the softest coat of fur you could ever pet.
I will miss my girl forever, but I feel extremely lucky to have found and gone through the process of her transition with Kona’s Loving Paws and Faithful Companions. I would recommend their services to anyone else who is in the difficult position to make this choice.
The most comforting thing to me in this time of emptiness is knowing she lived as full of a life as possible. I will take all my memories with her to my grave, and if she is there when my time comes as well, I will be blessed.
Until then, I plan to hold her reckless abandon, yet unconditionally loving spirit of trees, water, and sun with me as I move into new chapters of life.
