In Memory of Midge

Eleven years ago, we walked into the BC SPCA's Vancouver Branch and fell in love with a little ball of black and tan fur with the deepest chocolate brown eyes you could imagine. We paid the adoption fee, took her home and started our lives with Midge. Six weeks ago, after a mercifully short and relatively painless battle with cancer, we said our last goodbyes to our sweet girl.

Those who knew Midge knew her defining characteristic was her love and the exuberance in which she provided that love. Anyone who entered our home, or even momentarily locked eyes with her on a walk, had a new best friend. As soon as you passed through our door you would be caught in the eye of a hurricane of sniffs, tail wags, butt wiggles and demands for pets. Her belly would be fully exposed and skyward within 15 minutes of meeting her. She was a ham of the highest order, who only wanted to go to the dog park so that she could address all of the other dog owners so that they could give her her requisite attention.

We’ve come to depend on that love and how it’s helped us get through the day to day but even more so, the rough times we’ve faced that she was right there alongside us for. When Jesse’s father was hospitalized after his stroke in 2020, our family faced the challenge of trying to navigate his care during the height of the pandemic, which we knew so little about at the time. After long days of care meetings and hospital visits, Midge, seemingly knowing that we desperately needed the release, would put on a show at 7:00 pm sharp, performing zoomie races around the living room and demanding that we break out of it and play with her. After he passed, it was her unrelenting love for life that forced us to leave the house and enter the world once again. Over the past several weeks, it has lifted our spirits to hear friends and family recount how Midge helped them through their own losses, break-ups, and hard times.

Midge lived a long, spoiled life surrounded by people who doted on her. She never really had any health issues and was spry right up until two days before she passed peacefully, those final days spent surrounded by the people who loved her most. There is no tragedy in the way she lived or died. The only tragedy is that she left us never fully understanding the indelible impact she had on our lives.

It’s estimated that dogs were domesticated 40,000 years ago, which to put in perspective, is tens of thousands of years before humans developed agriculture, setting us on the path to modern civilization. To put it another way, dogs knew us well before we knew ourselves and who we became. Dogs are quite literally our oldest tradition. Thinking about this 40,000-year contract between human and dog and all the bonds that were formed over that vast time period, it brings us an immense sense of pride that when it was our time to carry on that tradition, it was with the sweetest dog that ever chewed a stick.

Midge was the warm centre of our home and family and our favorite thing in the world. Our house feels empty without the demands for pets, the big “AWWWOOOO” as we walked through the door, the warmth of her fur against our legs as we napped and the general feeling of love and comfort that radiated through the house when she was here.
We have started this BC SPCA donation page in Midge’s name because looking back, the adoption fee we paid just doesn’t seem a fair price for the 11 years that we got to experience all those things. If Midge affected your life in any way or you are inspired to do so, please consider supporting the BC SPCA, so that they can continue to bring the experience that we had to other loving families.

Yours in butt wiggles and belly scratches,
Jesse and Olivia

Photo: Remembering Midge ~ 2011-2023