In Memoriam: Raymond (??? - Aug 11, 2023)

Today is the two year anniversary of Raymond’s crossing of the rainbow bridge and I finally want to honor my poor boy on the Internet.

We adopted him at the local humane society after having gone there for another dog only to find a different family with them for so long we started walking around and looking at the other dogs. As soon as we saw poor ol’ Raymond laying there, balled up and looking at us with his big eyes, we melted and adopted him on the spot. He was brought up to our area of the state from a high kill rate shelter down south and not much was known about him. Our vet estimated him at 3 years old. Embark told me he was 100% English American Coonhound. All I can tell you was that he was as loyal of dog any family could want.

He loved being outdoors and lived for walks in the woods and was always excited in the car when he knew where we were headed. After we found out at the end of 2022 that he was terminal with cancer after only six year with us - a time period that still feels cruel in how short it was - I made sure to let him walk our old routes while he had the strength in his legs.

Eventually the adrenal tumor grew and caused enough problems for Ray that we had to help him cross the bridge comfortably at approximately 9 years old. To this date is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I still think I’m going to see him lurking around, begging for food just off to the side.

Anyway, I wanted to raise a toast for my big boy one last time on the ’net. Thanks for seeing my champ in his glory days and sharing a glimpse into his life. Reddit automodded the above post for him and sent me hate mail through their message system, so he’ll just have to settle for being memorialized on just my personal blog. Somehow, I think he’d be just fine with that.

Till I see you again, bud…