Jojo

2003 - 2018

All of life is drenched in time. We are but the merest reeds of nature. Nothing stays for us whether we are animal, vegetable or human. As so, inevitably, Jojo, you are leaving us. Our sorrow is deep and perhaps boundless but we will not dwell in that dark valley on this day. Instead we will celebrate the life you lived among us and the gifts you leave behind.

You pranced and danced your way into our hearts and minds. You are small, fiercely independent, and proud. Your previous person called you Kujo, doubtless more because you were a heart-breaker rather than a warrior. We called you a whole spate of names - Jojo, Master Joda, Jo-dog, Pooh-dog, The Littlest Jojo, Prancer, and so on, mostly because no one name could suffice. Those bright eyes, crooked ears, and thin coat gave little hint of the spirit and energy that you brought to the drama of living. You looked like temple in ruins but you seduced all who knew you into a kind of worship for the force of life that flowed through your veins.
You taught us more about love than just about anything else in life. Especially as you got older and more and more crippled and broken. Not just love among the ruins, but love for the ruins themselves. Your life was woven together with ours and through these last long months of pain, limping, and incontinence you met it all with stubbornness, persistence, and whenever possible, even a kind of joy. Yes, you are a curmudgeon. You like to do things your way. You like to scold your people (especially Kathleen) if you feel you've been left alone too long. You insist on sitting on the edges of couches or curbs even if we can plainly see that you will take a tumble. In these ruins we learned about the quiet strength of the small, the damaged, and the vulnerable. You called us out of ourselves, away from our obsessions with ourselves and our cluttered and cumbersome lives. Called us away from our books and gadgets and self-protection out into the sunshine, or the snow, or the rain. Called us into life.

So we before you sleep we want to say "thank you". Thank you for letting us love you. Thank you for loving us. In your inimitable way you showed us about life and death and love. And you showed us the face of God.

We will not soon forget.