We put down our beloved canine Josie on Friday and are crammed with grief and gratitude. Grief as a result of our residence and our lives are emptier now with out her. Gratitude as a result of she was all the things one might need in a canine.

Josie joined our household in November 2009 after we had been residing in Cincinnati. We had put down our canine Sandy in 2006, and I had issued a decree: no extra canine. As a result of our son Reed and daughter Jayne could be leaving for school in August 2009 and August 2010, respectively, my spouse Courtney and I didn’t wish to be saddled with a canine in our empty nest years. Jayne took the information notably arduous, as she has a particular love for canine.

In early November 2009, the senior pastor of our church gave an exquisite message on the significance of celebrating necessary milestones in our lives. He talked about how he was attempting to make his highschool senior’s final 12 months at residence particular by taking his son on an extended street journey on Harley-Davidson bikes. After watching a hokey Hallmark Corridor of Fame TV film, A Canine Named Christmas, by which a household supplies a foster residence over Christmas for a canine from a neighborhood shelter, I believed that may be an amazing factor to do for Jayne earlier than she left for school. Following up on the film, animal shelters nationwide had been sponsoring a Foster a Lonely Pet for the Holidays Promotion, and I discovered an exquisite taking part native shelter. I advised Jayne we needed to make this final Christmas at residence a memorable one for her by fostering a canine over the vacations. I made her signal a contract promising that the canine would return to the shelter on December 26 — no exceptions, and no fuss.

Jayne selected the canine, and we opened our residence (and our hearts) to Josie, a mutt mixture of Pit Bull, Chow, and German Shepherd. After Josie’s first days in our residence, Courtney and I made a decision we’d inform Jayne on Christmas morning that we had been adopting Josie. We additionally determined to maintain the foster ruse going by dropping Josie off on the shelter on Saturdays so they may deliver her to adoption gala’s at a neighborhood PetSmart. Jayne prayed within the automotive that Josie wouldn’t be adopted, however I mentioned we had to think about Josie’s greatest pursuits and hope {that a} great household would undertake her. I labored issues out so the shelter wouldn’t deliver Josie to the adoption truthful, and Jayne and I might return three hours later to take Josie residence (to Jayne’s nice reduction). It was a really particular Christmas, as Jayne cried with delight when she opened the final current beneath the tree: Josie’s adoption papers.

Josie was a spectacular canine in each means. She was enmeshed within the each day rhythms of our household life. She was sturdy, energetic, and cherished to run and chase her beloved “binky ball.” She cherished the entire adventures we went on by the years. However she equally cherished the quiet occasions at residence. She would lie on the toes of no matter member of the family was residence; if multiple individual was residence, she would lie in a cushty spot equidistant from every. She was deeply dedicated to her household “pack” and cherished to sleep with us (maybe to our well being profit; the science is blended), however she additionally would attempt to bounce within the FedEx truck and would attempt to run into neighbors’ properties, in search of extra folks to like. Early on, we realized she didn’t do properly in a kennel away from folks after we needed to go away. So for over a decade we’d discover somebody to remain in our residence to be along with her whereas we had been gone. She would pensively watch us pack for a visit, however we sensed she additionally was questioning who could be staying along with her this time. We joked that Josie’s life motto got here from Stephen Stills: “If you cannot be with the one you like, love the one you are with.” After we moved to Malibu, Josie’s photograph was featured within the native paper, and he or she grew to become the canine matriarch of our neighborhood crammed with households with younger youngsters and canine.

Josie stored her zest and pleasure for all times as she aged, whilst she stoically handled Inflammatory Bowel Illness, Thyroid Illness, and Most cancers. She endured a each day routine of drugs and an uber-restricted weight loss program and Immunotherapy pictures to maintain the most cancers at bay for so long as potential. She finally developed a number of tumors all through her physique, together with two giant tumors in her mouth that made consuming tough. Her new favourite “deal with” was ice cubes to boring the ache. Regardless of all of it, she awoke every morning and bounded out of our mattress brimming with pleasure about what the brand new day would deliver (and left behind blood that had seeped out of the tumors whereas she slept). By means of all of it, she embodied Psalm 118:4 like no human or animal I’ve ever identified: “That is the day the LORD has made; allow us to rejoice and be glad in it.”

Josie was a particular companion for me. She joined me after I drove 30,000 miles to observe Reed’s faculty soccer video games. After I grew to become dean, I known as her the “First Canine of the Legislation College” as she joined me in:

a whole lot of tennis matches with college, employees, college students, and alumni:

over 100 Wednesday evening Bible research:

a whole lot of scholar dinners at our residence:

dozens of walks with college students:

one formal Zoom occasion throughout Covid:

and one scholar commencement occasion with a Legally Blonde theme: 

When Josie joined us, Jayne was a Senior at Cincinnati Nation Day Excessive College, Reed was a Freshman at Grinnell School, Courtney was a Legislation Clerk for the U.S. District Court docket for the Southern District of Ohio, and I used to be a chaired professor and Affiliate Dean of College on the College of Cincinnati School of Legislation. When Josie left us, all of us had been in very completely different phases of life: Jayne is an Ob-Gyn Resident at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, Reed is married and is a Technical Providers Analyst at Epic in Madison, and Courtney is retired and partnering with me in my dean function at Pepperdine Caruso Legislation College. Josie absolutely shared in and enriched our lives and our journeys over the previous 4,946 days. Our remaining days won’t be the identical with out her.

Letting Josie go reminded us of this wrenching departure I beforehand blogged:

Replace:  Jayne superbly captured on Instagram the second we shared on Friday:

My candy lady Josie handed away at the moment at 3:35 PST. She cherished our household ferociously for 13.5 years and (don’t inform Mathilda I mentioned this) however she’s going to at all times be the goodest lady. She went out with a bang, consuming rooster with a vigor not seen in a few years from our previous gal. I do know she is already taking part in binky ball in doggy heaven with Marshmallow and Atticus. We miss her desperately already.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/06/josie-shands-caron-2007-2023.html