My sweet Keisha Louise

Keisha was never officially my dog. She was never supposed to belong to any of us, really. Jules took her in for two weeks in the fall of our senior year of college – a small, frightened little pup who had been starved and abused. She was just going to stay with us temporarily while her original owner looked for a new home for her. But naturally, we all fell wildly in love with her. We instituted “love on Keisha time” where we would take turns holding her and petting her and telling her how wonderful she was. And she slowly started to come out of her shell. At some point, I think her owner did say he had found her a new home. I can’t remember exactly what happened, just that there was drama, and in the end, Keisha stayed. Stayed, and came into her own. She was half pit bull and half black lab, which meant she would ferociously hold you down and kiss you. And she loved to swim. One of my favorite memories of Keisha is of watching her swimming around the reservoir at the Medford Woods and wagging and grinning like mad.

Jules and I were roommates for years, so Keisha and I were very close. And even when we didn’t live together, she was still my special girl. Plus, she and Seamus were pals. They loved to play together. She always had a soft spot for beagles. Anyway, she died this morning. I knew it was coming. I’d had a dream about her a couple of weeks ago where she came to see me and sat on my lap and put her paws on my shoulders and kissed me like she used to do, and it was like she was saying goodbye. I talked to Jules after the dream and she said Keisha had been having good days and bad days, and the vet said she was dying. I’m glad she’s not suffering, but I’m so sad she’s gone. I’ll miss you, my sweet Keisha girl.

Keisha and her "brother" Wesley, who died a long time ago. Keisha is the black dog on the right.