On December 30, 2014, Max, Jim’s parents’ dog, passed away.

Max was such a good, sweet dog, and lived to be almost 13 years old, loved by the entire Butler clan.  Jim and his 4 siblings had gotten him as a birthday present for their mom.

Look how small he was.

Max with Jim’s mom.

He grew into a handsome chocolate lab.

Pinot loved playing with him.  They would face off and chase each other around the yard.

He always got down to Pinot’s level.

He would let Pinot run circles around him.

He taught Pinot how to dig a hole in the yard.

He was always gentle with Pinot.

And when they got tired, they would lie down on the grass together.

I love you Max, says Pinot.

They played together indoors too.

With a toy in his mouth.

They both liked to hang out on the couch with Jim.

Or sit on me on the floor.

I love how they would just lie down together and take a nap, whether it was on the floor,

or with Jim on the couch.

They were so cute snuggled together.  Although I feared for Pinot with her head so close to Max’s butt in case he passed wind.

Pinot thinks Max’s butt makes a great pillow.

He was not only gentle with little dogs, he was great with kids.  He let my little niece Jamie take him for walks.

And he patiently posed for selfies with my niece Meghan.

They were so cute together.

I love this picture of them.

Max let my nephew Kyle dress him in his shoes and hat.

The entire Butler family felt the loss of Max.  My brother-in-law Tom even wrote 3 songs for Max.  I thought the lyrics were amazing.

And the person that will miss Max the most, the one that spent the most time with him, is Jim’s mom.

These last few years, when Jim and I moved up to this house and even further from his parents, we haven’t seen much of Max.  Now I regret that we didn’t bring Pinot and Lokie to visit him more, or have him up to our house.  I forgot how much they used to enjoy being together, since life interfered and we forgot about the simple joy that dogs can bring us.  And now it’s too late.  When Jim told us that Max passed away, Pinot suddenly let out this big sigh and sank down, with her head between her paws.  I think she understood.

Max was a great dog.  RIP Max.  You will be missed.