Indiana Jones: A Tribute

It is with a very sad and heavy heart that I share with you, our beloved Indiana Jones left us on Sunday, January 30, 2011. He was eight years old, and would have celebrated his ninth birthday on February 20. Indy has battled a severe heart condition (MVD - Mitral Valve Disease) for the past four years, but due to his love and huge spirit for life, most people were not aware just how detrimental his health really was.

For the past four years, Indy has been on medication for his heart, and we, as a family had the three different medications  ~  given three times a day, down to a regular routine. All the while, Indy continued to play, chew on his favorite bones and toys, ask for cookies and crushed ice, explore around the pond, sit under the Christmas tree, and happily greet visitors at the front door  ~  just a little bit slower as time marched on. Finally, the disease had gotten the best of him, and we tearfully said goodbye to him around 9:45 a.m. Sunday morning. Our lives and our home will never be the same again.

Dear Indy,
We are so blessed to have spent so many wonderful years with you, I will never forget all of the love and happiness that you have given us each and every single day of your life. I am so very glad that the day we went to the breeder to pick out that little female puppy, that you absolutely would not leave us alone and we came home with you instead! You chose us on that day ~ and I will be forever grateful! Everyone you ever met truly loved your name, and you even had your own theme song! (theme to Indiana Jones) Every time I hear it I will think of you and smile, picturing you charging from one end of the backyard to the other, even up to the very top of the pond and back down the other side! There are so many wonderful memories of you etched in my mind . . . I could write volumes . . . I loved how you could shake paws with both your left and your right! You had so many favorite spots around our home, and you always kept a watch at the top of the stairs looking out the windows at passersby. You knew where the cookies were kept, and learned how to scratch the cabinet door whenever you wanted one! Chicken was your most favorite food, and I believe carrots were a close second. Always looking for adventure  ~  once, when you were younger, you fell into the pond, and it never happened again! I also remember the time you brought a dead bird right into the middle of the dining room and we had a really hard time getting it away from you! You have been featured in many family Christmas card photos over the years, and so many people online have come to know you  ~  even trading snail mail with some special animal friends like Daisy Bunny!

 Cleopatra so looked up to you, and she will definitely miss her lovable big brother.

Indiana Jones, you were truly one of a kind,  a real adventurer, who most definitely lived up to your very big name. You will be forever missed, and forever loved!  ❤  xoxoxo

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