Dear Sayu,

A Letter to my Late Dog,

Jade M.
4 min readJan 25, 2023
Photo by the author

Dear Sayu,

Today was the first day when I woke up without you. It was the first time in thirteen years that I didn’t start my day by taking you out to potty. I didn’t get to relax with you while I drank my coffee and watched TikTok or played video games. I didn’t get to listen to your sweet doggy snores or share my pillow with you.

Now is the first time I’ve pulled out my laptop and written anything without you by my side. I used to call you my little editor because I knew you were silently rooting for me to do well with whatever I was working on. I know you’d be rooting for me now, and maybe you still are.

I know the mornings will be the hardest because that was our lazy time. I’d even set my alarm a half-hour early on workdays so that I could sit with you I before got ready for work. I wouldn’t trade those mornings for anything, in fact, I wish I could have just one more.

When I go back to work, I know I’ll be facing more firsts, like the first time I return to a home without you in it. I no longer get to vent to you and stroke your fur if I’ve had a hard day. I don’t get to buy you a toy for Valentine’s Day, your birthday, Halloween, or Christmas anymore. I don’t get to curl up next to you and play Pokémon while you nap. I’ll never see you do a head tilt when I mention ‘snacks’…

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Jade M.

Jade is a Louisiana based author who loves video games and usually writes about experiences she has. https://linktr.ee/jmcculloch120