11/15/2022
10:45PM

It was only 24 hours ago, in which I was bursting out crying. Kenji, my beloved best friend, my dog, was taking his last breaths. For about only a minute, he was taking prolonged gasps of air. Then suddenly, the rhythm of the airflow to his ribcage slowed. His lips started to gently quiver. And the pulse on his neck came to a stop.

He passed at 10:45PM on 11/14/22.

But let’s backtrack about 1 hour beforehand. My dad messages my family chat saying that Kenji might be dying soon. I was almost done at the gym, but of course family comes first. I asked some questions in the chat, and it turns out that Kenji hasn’t eaten anything or drank water the entire day. He did not have the energy to. I knew right then and there that I had to go back to my parents’ house immediately, and by the time I got back it was 10:05PM. I’m so glad I did. It was like Kenji waited for me to come home, so we can all spend our last moment as a family saying Goodbye to him. I’m so happy I did.

The tears that are coming down my eyes are from grief. I miss him a lot. He grew up with me and my family, and we shared so many precious memories together. However, although thinking about him makes me sad, it also makes me happy. I cherished every single moment with him and made sure to do everything with no regrets.

We gave him an amazing life of 15 years and 9 months. It was a long life filled with walks, treats, pets, belly rubs, and play. Whenever I got the chance to, I would be in the backyard to play ball with him. It was his favorite thing to do. He would grab a ball and let it roll to me. Then I would gently kick it upwards to catch in his mouth. Of course he would catch it. Then the cycle would repeat until we get tired.

Ah, then when he had the zoomies. After every bath, he would be racing through the house - from the living room, through the hall, and into the study room. He would have those crazy beady eyes. I loved hearing his toenails clicking on the floor as he zoomed back and forth. And he smelled soooo good after his bath too. I’m sure he loved the feeling.

But I think the moments that I miss the absolute most with Kenji are when I would come home after a late night. Everybody’s asleep, but the dogs would wake up to greet me. Kenji would always spend the most time with me and we would just lie on the floor together. Sometimes before we do that, I would go down on my knees to his level, and while facing him place my head right next to his. I would give him scratches behind the ears, and tell him that I love him so much.

Rest in peace, Kenji. Dad, Mom, Bradley, and I love you so much. You really are a good dog.

I always love to hold Kenji’s paw when he sleeps

I remember how beautiful of a sunset this day was

You can see that Kenji’s wearing a diaper here - he’s getting older

Kenji’s favorite game