For Kokomo Joe

I have been blessed these last 6 years with the privilege of meeting and getting to know so many pets and their humans.  Each family is unique and wonderful.  They all have special relationships, some quirky, some amusing, some touching.  All loving.  It's such a joy to get to know the animals I paint when that is possible.  Of course, I never really get to know them the way their humans do, as my time with them is typically short and with a camera between us for a good portion of that visit.   Yet, I still have an attachment to these precious beings that do not live with me.  

Last night I received an email that Kokomo Joe, a handsome Newfoundland that I'm preparing to paint, had lost his battle with a very recent and baffling illness.   I first met Kokomo in April of 2007, during our first photo shoot.  He romped with his partner Maggie Mae in their backyard.  Maggie is actually the most photogenic of the two, but Kokomo had the most personality.  What a pair. 


My first reaction was typical. I burst into tears.  I had just taken another round of photos this past June.  Linda and Mike are the most gracious and accommodating clients and clearly love their fur-friends.  We spent some time trying to get better pics of Kokomo.  Maggie had had her hair trimmed and looked like a gigantic black lab.  Anyway, about the same time that my Gracie became ill, a few months after that photo shoot, Kokomo took ill as well.  Linda and I shared updates via email, so I wasn't surprised so much by the latest news as I was simply hard-hit.  The connection to this family had been made, so of course I grieve their loss.  


Our animal companions give us so much and ask so little of us in return.  All they really want is food, shelter, some play time and lots of love.  Kokomo had this in buckets-full.  


To all of the special creatures whom we've loved, who've passed on, who continue their journey in the Universe without their earthly bodies, I say thank you for sharing a moment of your life with ours.