My heart is broken today. Absolutely broken. Completely broken. I have lost my best friend. Isabella the wonder of the canine universe is no longer with us. I will shed some tears over the coming days as this little 13-pound dog will no longer be my constant companion. While Izzy is gone, she will absolutely never be forgotten. She will just be missed terribly. She was THAT good and THAT special.

She Brought Out The Best In All Of Us

Because she was my constant companion, she joined me daily in my offices for the last 8 years. She traveled with me across the country. She snuggled with me while we watched movies and listened to great music. She flew with me on airplanes, she hunted with the big dogs, she ran the length of the pier on Cross Lake and launched herself into the air like a champion. She loved life, she loved human beings, and she made friends with everyone she met. Simply, she brought out the best in me. She made me care about her and her needs. She made me realize how important it is to pay attention to others. She made me realize how important it is to serve others.

A Tail: She Bested A Pack Of Foxes

A number of years ago, I carelessly opened my front door in the early morning darkness to let my little friend go and relieve herself of a night’s retained water. She bolted out the door and shot across our yard before I realized what was happening. She noticed six red foxes in our wooded urban retreat and took off to let them know they were not welcome in her yard. I was horrified because the odds were heavily stacked in the foxes’ favor. I ran after her, but she and the foxes disappeared into the darkness, and I realized I would not be able to run them down or run her down. At that moment, I believed that my lack of caution had probably cost Izzy her life. I woke my wife with the news that Izzy had been taken by the pack of foxes which lead to a great many tears and a ton of regret and shame. And then I heard the calamity outside continuing. Izzy was running that pack of urban foxes through our neighborhood at 4:00 in the morning. The foxes were screaming and if there was anyone sleeping in our wooded neighborhood that morning, it would have been nearly a miracle. I went back outside and decided to try to find her and help her. After about a 35 or 40 minute run, I saw Izzy come tearing down through the woods and she crossed my driveway. I called her name and she stopped in her tracks and allowed me to come and pick her up. One of the great miracles of my life. My thirteen-pound Schnoodle had been playing with a vixen of six foxes in the pre-dawn hours, and she had kept them from making her their breakfast.

I won’t go on and bore you with more tails of Izzy’s great dog life. Suffice it to say, she was one of a kind. She was an extraordinary, once in a lifetime kind of companion, and an absolute joy. We have already begun missing her terribly, but we won’t let our sorrow allow us to forget her greatness and how much she embraced life. Do yourself a favor, and live life with all the vigor you can muster.

We only have so much time and we only get one lap around this life. Make it count.