One grieving pet owner decided to honor his dog by helping other pups play.
Instagram user imso, whose name is Chris, observed the two-year anniversary of the death of his dog, Everything, by giving away tennis balls online. He bought 100 to share, hoping people would use them to spend time with their best canine friends.
Everything meant, well, everything to its owner. It's what inspired him to honor his dog in this way, Chris told Mashable.
"I wanted to share her memory but in a positive way — to encourage other people to bond with their dogs," Chris said. "This was the best way I could think to do that. No matter what day, in my head there is always the equation of how many days I have been without her."
He still occasionally posts memories of Everything on Instagram and, with the looming anniversary, he said he wanted to do "something special" to mark the date.
My beautiful best friend that I miss very much. Everything. #bestfriend #missyou #alldogsgotoheaven #dogsofinstagram #happiness #tillwemeetagain A photo posted by Futuristic Mega Monstrosity (@imso) on Dec 8, 2015 at 2:58pm PST
"I had Everything for 12 years," Chris said. "Our main hobby together was walking on the beaches between Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay. She slept in the bed with me in spite of my ex-girlfriend's wishes that she didn't."
He even talked about the death of his Rottweiler-boxer mix in a tender way that shows their strong bond.
"[Everything] passed away in my arms at about 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 23, 2014," Chris said. "I did not have it in me to put her down and sometimes feel selfish about that. I buried her in the mountains outside of Nevada City, California, on the same property from where I picked her out of the litter."
When my dog "Everything" got sick i quit my job and got a loan to properly care for her. When that didnt cut it my wonderful sister Nicole helped out. She was a Vet-Tech and helped me get her to the best vets we could afford. Sometimes i feel guilty that i might have selfishly extended her suffering... However ill always be grateful for what ever extra time we were afforded together. #missyou #everything #bestfriend #lost #withoutyou #broken #heart #wontheal #dogsofinstagram #gooddog #Rottweiler #boxer #mix #aliveinmyheart #aliveinmymind A photo posted by Futuristic Mega Monstrosity (@imso) on Apr 6, 2015 at 10:07pm PDT
Despite all that sadness, the response that Chris has received so far convinced him he did the right thing in launching this small social media memorial.
"The response has been amazing," he said. "I'm grateful for the response. I didn't expect such a response but I'll do what i can to make sure everybody gets a tennis ball for Everything."