my best friend of 17 years is crossing the rainbow bridge tomorrow

ozzie, where do i start? i can barely find the words. my sweet ozzie, he’s been my entire world since i was 4-5. my very earliest memory i have was coming home from school and seeing him jumping up at the door. he’s been my shadow ever since.

my baby has done so much for me, helped me at my lowest points, when i lost my dad, when my mental health was dangerously rough, he was almost always the way out of those holes for me. i owe him my life, and the least i can do to repay him is say goodbye so he doesn’t have to suffer. but it still doesn’t feel like enough.

he’s lived 17 long years full of love, food and a rotating door of other animal friends. he was always good with all of them and his gentle soul made him dearly loved by every single person that met him. even my dad, who was a stubborn old man who didn’t care for dogs. i can only hope he’ll find my old man on the other side and they’ll watch top gear together while they wait on the rest of us.

my sweet boy will leave a huge hole in my heart that will never truly be healed, and i know that. he was one of a kind and could never be replaced. tonight we say our goodbyes, and tomorrow at 1:30pm he’ll leave us, and we’ll all be with him until the very moment he’s gone.

ozzie has seen me and my sister into adulthood, and i would give everything for this one last christmas with him, but i know that’s a selfish way of thinking. we aren’t ready, i’ve never been less ready for anything in my life, but he is, and i owe him this.

ozzie, your brothers and sisters will miss you, and you’ll never be forgotten. cross over safely. look for my dad— i know you haven’t seen him in a while, but you’ll know him when you see him, he looks just like me. merry christmas my beautiful boy.