Last Friday was the second anniversary of our family losing our boxer Jinx. We bought her one year after we married. While I was pregnant she watched over me and didn’t leave my side during contractions. She was always so loving and good to the kids as they grew up, it was like she was a second mother to them. Two years ago, I went away on a trip and when I returned I learned that she had been a bad girl around the house which wasn’t like her. I gave her love and passed it off as she was reacting to me being gone. I noticed her eyes were glossing over and she was having a hard time making it up the stairs. Since It was winter and her hips were not so good in her old age, I passed it off as the hip displaysia. Around 1:00 am she needed to go outside and she didn’t return. I woke my husband, we put on our winter clothes and set out to find Jinx. We finally located her on the south end of our farm and it was brutally cold out. She was having difficulty walking, but made her way to the house.

When we were inside I noticed her breathing was labored and she wouldn’t take any water or go up the stairs. I helped her to her pillow and placed a heating pad on her hips to help ease her pain. Her breathing worsened and then I realized she was dying. I ran upstairs and told my husband she was dying. When I came back down to where she was laying she lifted her head one final time and laid her head on the arm I had around her. She had taken her last breath and died in my arms at 2:00 am. We woke our two children up, then 7 and 9. Together we said our goodbyes to her and cried for her. When my husband was removing her from the house, the children and I went to sleep in our bed together. As we lay there quietly sobbing, I thought I heard something but was afraid to say anything and scare the children. I had heard click, click, click, coming from the stairs. Just then my daughter said to me, mom I hear Jinx coming up the stairs. We all had heard the same thing. For days to come the children and I all heard her. The morning after she died, my husband looked at her tracks and came to realize that she walked a circle around our property. It was as if she didn’t want to die in the house in front of us, but also didn’t want to leave our farm. It wasn’t until each of us began talking about buying another dog that the sounds continued.

There have been times where our current boxer has stopped in his tracks and barked at darkness from the next room where Jinx liked to sleep. We think this is Jinx’s way to check in on us now and again. I haven’t bought or read your book yet. I intend to soon. My husband and I go to bed listening to your radio show and I felt compelled to share our storey with you. Forget what others may say about discussing Rescuing Sprite on your show. There are some of us who appreciate a break from the political commentary from time to time and enjoy seeing a glimpse into who Mark Levin is and what he values. Kudos to you, stick with it.

Janine from MN