IN MEMORY OF GRU

Dear Gru,
Goodbye to our sweetest and best boy. You were only in our lives for two and a half years, and you only had three and a half years on this Earth; however, given how fully and intensely you lived every moment, you truly experienced a lifetime and gave us a lifetime of love.
You were our first baby, and you taught us how to care for someone beyond ourselves. You demanded constant snuggles and affection, to the point that it became a running joke that we had to have everything in place prior to sitting down because as soon as we sat down our lap would be occupied. You stared at us with your incredibly human eyes and communicated so clearly and intensely. You wanted to spend every moment by our sides, and we cherished your constant companionship. The steadfast love that you shared every moment makes it that much harder to cope with its loss.
You were the smartest and sneakiest dog I have ever known. You always got what you wanted and outsmarted us. Taking you outside for a walk was always a bit of a game, with you asking to go out and then running away to make us chase you as soon as we tried to catch you. While we tried not to chase you when you took things you weren’t supposed to have because we knew chasing you made it into a reinforcing game, you always knew exactly what important thing to take that would force us to chase you to get it back! You learned so quickly when you wanted to, but you always knew exactly what you did and did not want to do. You were the most determined and tenacious dog that I know, and you always had a goal in mind. I have read that you can never win an argument with a Griff, and you absolutely won every single argument.
You also made us laugh every single day, and our memories of you continue to make us laugh. We love how you would take any opportunity when we were petting you to run and find a toy to bring over. We laugh about how excited you would get at the phrase “do you…” because you knew it often preceded “want to go for a WALK?” or “want a TREAT?” I even loved moving you out of my spot on the bed every single night because you always liked to warm it up for me. We had a lot of silly routines like that. We will always giggle when we think of your underbite and little “teefies” sticking out, and we remember fondly your grumpy little huffs and sighs when you didn’t get what you wanted.
Whenever we were parted from you, even for a day, we talked about how much we missed you and couldn’t wait to be reunited. It is so hard to cope with the fact that we are now facing a lifetime without you. Nothing can possibly fill the hole you’ve left behind. We continue to cry for you over a month after you left us, and we’ll continue to remember you for the rest of our lives. You have left such an impact on us that we can never forget the two and a half years that we shared, and we regret that you didn’t get more time here.
We are so grateful that many people saw how special and unique you were. As my mother has said, you knew how to wiggle your way into people’s hearts. Your high energy level and intensity was always overwhelming to new friends at first, but anyone who got to know you couldn’t help but absolutely adore you. You were cherished by our families, our friends, our family’s other dogs who you played with over the holidays, and even by many friends on the internet who followed your Instagram page, @grunoodlegriff.
We know that you are with us still, because we feel your presence sometimes. We know that you are in doggy heaven playing tug of war, chewing bones, annoying bigger dogs, and sleeping in the fluffiest of beds, and we know that you no longer need us and that we don’t need to worry about you now. While we technically rescued you, we know that you did not need us nearly as much as we needed you; that remains true — we know that you are doing just fine in doggy heaven and that we are the ones in pain without you. You were our first baby and our companion through the first few years of our marriage. Thank you for letting us be a part of your life. We will carry your memory with us always, Gru. Please come visit us in our dreams.
Our eternal love, Laura & Joey