Yahrzeit for a Dog

In Judaism, the anniversary of a person’s death is called their yahrzeit. On that day, the mourner lights a candle, says the mourner’s kaddish, and reflects on the meaning that the deceased person had in the mourner’s life.
These rituals are, generally, not done for a dog.

If they were, though, Captain’s yahrzeit would be sometime in the beginning of August. He died two years ago under somewhat sketchy circumstances. First things first: Captain wasn’t even my dog. And truth be told, there were plenty of moments when I really didn’t like him. But the fact of the matter is that Captain actually changed the course of my life.

Captain belonged to Jon, who was then a single guy in his 40s living in Manhattan by the 59th Street Bridge. Jon had adopted Captain from the ASPCA almost on a whim in the summer of 2009. Divorced and having recently ended a relationship, Jon decided to fill the quiet void in his life with the unconditional love of a dog. I’d argue that in doing so, he got way more than he bargained for.

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