Dear Duke Lee… my soul dog, my birthday twin, my Virgo baby, my best friend. I adopted you from your biological mom at 12 weeks, on December 11, 2016. You were meant to be a present for your sisters, Laila and Lidia — but little did I know, outside of them you would become one of my greatest gifts. I’ll never forget that long car ride back from Ohio in my little Mercedes, sliding through the snow. I was scared, you were scared, and we just looked at each other in silence while I cried on the phone saying, “I don’t think he likes me, I don’t know what to do with him.” At just 17 years old, I had bought my first “big girl” house with a yard for you. I thought I was “financially stable” (HA, lol). But it was perfect timing. Back then, it was just me and you. I worked nights, so in the mornings, all I had to come home to was you. We’d cuddle until it was time to get the girls. On weekends, grandma or old friends would come over, or we’d go to Boxcar where you’d eat popcorn. Somehow, you even learned to open the fridge and sneak butter. You’d go crazy in the middle of the floor if I played hide-and-seek. You made us laugh endlessly. When the girls were gone, it was still just me and you. You saw 10 years of happiness and tears. You saw the financial crisis when you could only get one bone a week. You saw the stress from building a career. You witnessed heartbreaks, the short sale of my house, and even had to stay with Mama and Pop Pop when we moved to Charlotte and all I could find were townhouses too small for you. But Mama found you a yard again. This time we were in Lake Norman. Your days became filled with golf cart rides, boat days, and swimming in the lake. You became the Duke of Lake Norman. You were there when I started my business, under my feet during those late nights while I worked, coming to site visits and charming every patient — adding “research” to your resume. We were living our best life…Then life happened again and You pushed me forward when I didn’t think I could keep going.You laid in my closet with me when the tears wouldn’t stop, and you forced me to get up and walk you — walks that I complained about but that secretly saved me. And then you were there when Mommy found happiness again. Through it all, you never left my side. I whispered things in your ear that I wouldn’t trust another living being with. You were also the best big brother. To Laila — the only one who could calm you in an instant, proving to me you were meant for us. To Lidia — who endured your “love bites,” but in these last weeks had become inseparable from you. And to Mariah — who adored you as if you had been here her whole life. You loved them each so fiercely, and they loved you just as much. Now that you’ve been gone for three days, I realize I never gave you enough credit. I always knew I loved and spoiled you, but I didn’t realize just how much you carried me. The laughs, the company, the unconditional love… you made survival possible. I feel guilty now, remembering how many times I brushed you out of the way when I walked in with groceries, saying “Get back, Duke.” Oh, what I would give to drop the groceries and just greet you again. The tapping of your paws, your loud bark, your crazy zoomies, the way you’d signal me after a long day… they filled my life. Their absence is haunting. Truthfully, I’ve never sat with just myself since I was 27, because you were always there making life better. And now, I don’t know what to do without you. Honestly not even sure who I am without you constantly craving my attention. People might say, “he’s just a dog.” But no one else knows the skeletons in my closet like you do — the very skeleton bones you helped me chew through and leave behind. You were taken too soon. I fought for you, on my hands and  knees in the moment, trying to save you — and still I lost you. That pain will stay with me. If I could have given years of my life for more time with you, I would have. I miss you more than anything, Duke. Thank you for being my only son, soul dog, my protector, my children’s big brother, my bestie.

Forever my Duke. 

09-08-2016 to 09-12-2025