05/21/2026
On April 4, I had to make the hard decision to put my Mila down. It’s not what I wanted to do, but I looked at her and knew it was what I needed to do. My beautiful, sweet, baby angel was a whole 14 years old, and with me for just shy of 7 years. I loved her with my whole heart. I did literally everything I could for her and she was able to live a looooong wonderful, healthy life. Her mind was still so sharp, but her body was deteriorating. She was tired. So was I.
Thank you to everyone who loved my girl; she genuinely loved you, too! She wanted literally everyone to be her friend. So many people helped me raise this dog, and I’m so grateful for everyone that was in our community. I especially couldn’t have made it the last week without Winnie, David and Danisha, who literally physically helped me hold up her ailing body, and propped me up when everything was overwhelming. They came with me to the vet and there wasn’t a dry eye in the room, even from the doctor and vet tech. I’m so lucky to have friends who loved my baby as much as I did. I can’t even put the gratitude into words. Thank you for all the phone calls I received and your thoughtful messages sent. Thank you to my coworkers for being a supportive community. I really felt people show up for me in a way I probably couldn’t even fathom before then.
Mila didn’t love most dogs, but she loved her dog pack with a sort of matriarchal aloofness, she adored Dobby and Niño with an annoying sibling energy, and tolerated the other Patterson dogs juuust enough (I think Sammy was secretly her favorite).
That dog changed my life forever. In 2019, I didn’t know how to take care of myself. I got her as an emotional support animal and wow, the love I poured in came right back to me. I affirmed her every day and spoke so much love into her, but I realize now that the whole time I was really affirming myself, and speaking love into me. She helped me put my chaotic pieces together and helped me with self-belief. With her, I unlocked a boundless love for life and in gratitude, I somehow kissed all the color off her perfect little white snoot. She’ll always be my brief dream of sun ☀️
