This is a video tribute to my dog Cody, a wacky Australian Shepherd mix. He had issues with slick floors and confined spaces. Back in mid-July, when I found out that the lump in Codys jaw was malignant and likely to end his life, I began to think of all of the happiness that he brought into MY life. I also began to realize how much of that I had been able to capture over the years in terms of still photos and video. I hate to admit it, but I was editing this video in my head well before that awful day in late August that Jackie and I had to call a home-vet and lovingly send Cody on his way.
Creating this homage has helped me to grieve and get over the passing of my dear friend. Scouring through all of my videos and photo albums brought me to tears more than a few times, but to come out the other end and finish this tribute was not only therapeutic- it was necessary. What you are a
bout to see IS Cody, and even if you only watch it once, I thank you for helping to keep his wacky spirit alive.... The song this video is set to is "It Gets Me Going" by Spymob. Sean macintoronto sent me an exerpt from a poem about dogs written by Beth Norman Harris: "Treat me kindly, my belo
ved friend, For no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me. And, my friend, when I am very old and no longer enjoying good health, hearing and sight, Do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I am not having fun. Please see that my trusting life is taken g
ently. I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw, that my fate was always safest in your hands". It touched me to write about that day that Cody drew his last breath: I have not written about it until now, so here it goes: My wife Jackie called me at work to tell me that things
had gone really bad for Cody that morning. He had been diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma of the lower jaw about a month earlier. It was an awful, aggressive tumor which we mistook for an abscessed tooth. We had a vet come to the house and picked a spot in my studio. He gave us 5 minutes alone
with Cody... and we held him and praised him, and I whispered to him how much better he had made my life. When the vet came back, I held Cody close while he gave him the 1st shot to put him to sleep. Cody was wagging his tail and loving every bit of the attention. He started to get woozy and eventu
ally settled his head against my neck. I looked deep into his eyes, (those crazy, multicolored eyes) one last time and then they shut. The vet then gave him the 2nd shot to stop his heart. Within a few seconds, his breathing slowed against my neck and then he took one last tiny breath. He died in m
y arms. It was such a peaceful moment. So sad, but so right.

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