Old Jake died today.

[Samantha's pet]

When I was little we lived in Louisiana out in the country. There was this little gravel road w/ 5 houses and all 5 houses were my relatives. One house was my great grandparents, another my grandparents, the other two were aunts uncles and cousins and then there was our house. It was really cool being able to grow up w/ my whole family in walking distance. When I was seven my grandpa got this little black lab puppy. I loved that puppy. He wanted to call him black jack but I insisted on Jake. There was this country song I loved called "If I Die before I Wake Feed Jake". I used to play with him and sing to him everyday. Well, he follwed me home everyday and stayed at our house most of the time (my grandpa owned a lot of acreage surrounding our houses and the dogs just roamed.) so my grandpa let him be "my dog". When I was eleven we moved to Arkansas and he became my grandpa's dog again but I still thought of him as mine and we visited a lot. Our visits to LA started to lessen and I saw Jake less and less. I hadn't seen him in almost a year and the other day my 13 yr. old cousin (who turned out a lot like me) sent out a message on Myspace saying that Jake was like a brother to her and he was in poor health and that he would soon die. She asked everyone to pray that he wouldn't die in pain. I cried all day after that message. I had a "Charlotte's Web" sort of moment. I dont believe in God but I begged someone out there to let him hang on a few more months til I could see him again at Christmas time. I wanted to say bye and see if he remembered me. That didnt happen. I got the news tonight. He passed at 5:25 this afternoon. It's just not fair. I really didn't need this now. I hope he had a very happy 13 years and I hope he died peacefully. This makes me wonder why I even got Sam. Why do we even put ourselves through the torture of sharing our homes and our lives with someone and letting ourselves fall so in love with them when we know they will have such an unfairly short life? I don't know what I will do when Sam goes.

Here are some recent pics of old Jake

Here he is with my cousin that sent the myspace message

You can see how bad he was looking in this one

 

[ToscasMom]

What a sweet boy. And what a touching memorial you wrote for him.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

RIP Old Jake... run free...

 

[malmo]

Sniff. I love old dogs.

 

[mrose_s]

I remeber the other night, I was lying in bed hugging Buster and crying about Panda. I remember thinking "why the hell do we let ourselves love something this much when it is this hard when they die?" and I actually pushed Buster away and lay with my back to him because i relaly didn't want to feel close to him anymore.
Then I remembered why, because if I didn't love him that much my life would not be as good as it is now. If i didn't love him that much I wouldn't know I could love anything that much and if I didn't love him that much his life wouldn't have been as fullfilling either.
I ended up hugging Buster again, vecause the good times far outweigh the bad. Eventually your going to loose your pets but thats to show you truely how much you love them.

RIP Jake. You were very much loved.

 

[LB2007]

Sad, RIP Jake, it is so sad we have to lose them and know about when

 

[hbwright]

I'm so sorry. Hold on tight to Sam and let him comfort you. Losing a pet is extremely hard, sometimes even just hearing about others losses I feel this tightening burn in my throat and my whole body aches with the feelings of loss. I'm mourning the loss of my Cleo in January and trying to enjoy every minute I can with my old girl. Love them and never take a single minute for granted.

 

[Barb04]

I'm sorry to hear about Jake. Our pets aren't with us long enough, but the love and friendship they give to us will last forever. I couldn't imagine life without my past, present, and future pets. They are all in my heart as will Jake be in your heart and memories forever.

 

[bubbatd]

RIP dear Jake . Remember folks /// " It's better to have loved and lost , than never to have loved at all "

 

[Aussie Red]

RIP JAKE. You are free from the pain of age . run and be free.

 

[squirtsmom]

RIP Jake. Your friends are at the bridge.

 

[Charliesmommy]

RIP Sweet Jake. (((hugs Danielle)))

 

[heartdogs]

I know a sweet old girl named Dancer who will probably love to see a sweet boy like Jake come there to spend time with her. I think they will be friends and that we all meet again. RIP Jake, and plant a smooch on Dancer for me, will ya?