Goodbye to Java
December 30th, 2011 Beth Krodel Posted in Insight News | 3 Comments »
We said goodbye to our good friend Java this week. He died Monday at home surrounded by family. He would have been 14 in January.
For more than 10 years, Java came to the Insight Designs office every day, taking his job as spirit lifter and security director very seriously. He barked at scores of delivery men and window washers, greeted hundreds of clients, and entertained everyone on staff.
He’s been the Insight Designs mascot since the beginning, gracing all of our holiday cards, having a bio on our website, and of course being the star of our gum packs this year. He took part in staff retreats and was always willing to help, even wearing a web cam during one of our holiday parties. He played endless hours of tug-of-war with Clint and Keith. He licked clean countless post-lunch tupperwares. He almost chased a tennis ball out of our third-floor window when John was playing catch with him. He went hiking with Monica near Leadville, got lost and ended up spending a day at the Lake County Sheriff’s Department. Once, he ate 5 pounds of uncooked pasta and then unloaded all of it on the sidewalk in front of Pasta Jay’s on his way into the office, after which he earned the nickname Pasta Java.
Outside of work, he enjoyed chasing squirrels, fetching tennis balls, barking at deer and just being outside. He spent most of his free time with Beth, running countless miles, hiking 14ers and snowboarding down Loveland Pass.
He cheated death twice – once in 2002 when he was hit by a car and again in November 2007 when he was diagnosed with cancer, a mast cell tumor in his lower abdomen. At the time, the surgeons at CSU said he might only have 2-3 weeks to live if they didn’t remove the mass immediately. But removing the mass also meant removing one of his hind legs, so we opted out of the surgery. He exceeded their expectations 100-fold, living another 4 happy, active years.
Java truly was a miracle dog. He is already sorely missed, especially by me.
December 30th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Since words are never sufficient at a time like this, I’m sending my love and warm thoughts to you all.
December 30th, 2011 at 2:26 pm
To everyone at Insight Designs, my thoughts and prayers are with you all. As i just had to let my 13 year old lab “Buddy” cross rainbow bridge and know how hard it is to let such a good friend go. I have always loved this poem and know Java is playing and catching balls and eating pasta!
By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.
For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,
And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together
December 30th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Java was the first dog in my life that stuck around more than a couple years (my family didn’t have much luck with canines). He really was amazing- loved our family, was great with kids, used the pet doors! I miss him very much already. I’m thankful to my parents who ‘commissioned’ an amazing drawing of him by our good friend Jamie M. Done from a photo and now hung on the wall in our dining room, the picture really captures Java’s spirit and ‘spirit lifting’ abilities.