Jazzmin is gone. :-(

Friday morning I woke up and found my beloved dog Jazzmin lying in the hallway at the top of the stairs like she did so often. Usually I'd step over her and head down stairs and she'd follow me, but this time she didn't. I went back to see what was going on and she wasn't breathing, wasn't moving. She must've died sometime during the night. She didn't look like she had been in any pain or had something happen to her during the night, she just looked like she was sleeping. She was almost 12 years old and was a purebred, I know they don't live as long as mutts.

It's been very sad here the last few days, she was a big part of this family. My wife got her for me for the first Valentine's Day that we were married (Feb '98 ), that's why we named her Jazzmin Valentine. She died the day before Valentine's Day this year.

We had her cremated and will bury her under the tree she always laid under during the summer in the backyard. I think she'd like that.

Jazzmin never met a person she didn't like. She'd jump up on everybody who'd come into the house, trying to get to their face so she could lick them. John (FASTBACK340) and his wife Amy came by here once, Jazzmin lept up onto Amy's lap and stayed there for quite a while. The fact that Amy didn't want her to get down didn't hurt I'm sure.

At 11 years old she still played like a puppy every day, she just needed to take longer naps to recharge. Thursday night we played a bit before bed, she got her usual bone and then went upstairs. She came over to me a gave me a good night kiss (lick, actually) like she always did, I gave her the normal good night petting and she went to sleep at the foot of our bed.

There's nobody banging their toys on my leg, nobody comes running when I open the drawer in the fridge where the carrots are, nobody's jumping on the back door to be let in, nobody curling up in a ball at my feet when I'm working at the dining room table. Very sad. :-(

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