One year ago today, we made the hardest call of our lives.

In the most spectacular place on earth, Yellowstone National Park, we woke up that morning and understood that it was Jerry’s time to leave us.

The heartache of saying goodbye to our spiritual leader is still fresh in our hearts. Just thinking about it makes me cry.

Until that day, I never realized how the death of an animal companion could bring a person to their knees with pure grief.

Today, as I look over at ten month old Wyatt, a bundle of fur curled up in front of the fireplace, I know that we are setting ourselves up for another eventual heartbreak.

Their terribly short lives are the price we pay for having Dog as our Co-Pilot.

We posted this rememberance of Jerry on our Tripawds site today.