Tuesday I went to visit Anthony and Dunya. Dunya had been battling leukemia and her time here was coming to a close. Right when I walked in, Dunya lifted her head up, looked at me and tried to jump off of the couch to greet me. She was really weak and Anthony had to catch her because she could no longer support herself. It blew my mind that while overcome with weakness and pain in her final moments that she was still trying to love on people and extend a welcome to a stranger.

I visited for a few minutes, walked out to his truck with him as he loaded her up, said quiet goodbyes and then I drove away. I didn't listen to radio on the way home. It was a sobering honor to be allowed into sacred ground with the two of them and it will stay with me for a good while. Anthony called me later and told me that she passed just a few minutes after i left. He said she was 'a personable dog until the end, a quality sadly missing from most humans.'