Kira, the beautiful and sweet Siberian Husky that belonged to Jeremy’s parents, died last weekend. Jeremy bought her some 12 years ago and trained her well. When he left the country for a year in Europe, his parents took her home–and she lived happily with them from that point on.

Kira was absolutely one of the kindest dogs I’ve ever met. She was obedient, patient, and fun-loving, and she had the strongest hunting tendencies I’ve ever seen. My very first exposure to her is wrapped up in the beginning of my relationship with Jeremy. Jeremy wanted to get to know me better so, under the guise of relational youth ministry, he asked if my younger brother and I would join him on a Sunday afternoon trip to a state park with his dog. When he showed up at our house after church, I actually turned him down with the excuse of college homework or something (poor guy!) which left him now being relational with Andrew alone. But it was Kira who stole the limelight in that moment. In front of my house, she bound out of the Jeremy’s car and instantly trapped a squirrel in a sapling of a tree. A bunch of neighborhood boys surrounded the scene and cheered on the hunting wolf (as least that’s probably how they saw her). In no time at all, the squirrel was hopelessly caught in Kira’s strong jaw, squealing his pitiful squirrely death-squeal for help–which sent me running for the house. An empathetic animal-lover wuss all my life–I actually left the movie theater bawling when wolf got shot in Dances with Wolves–the dying squirrel sounds were more than I could handle. Ah, what a first impression from Kira!

The Husky played more of a role in my courtship with Jeremy as we successfully went on many walks through the dog run and other parks. I’ll always remember her joy at seeing Jeremy when we drove up to Bill & Karen’s house, her special invitation to come in the house one time each year (Christmas for a dog treat and bone), her sweet sniffing when meeting Livia for the first time, her gentleness with Livia for the past three years.

Kira has been a joy. She will be missed.