Mr. Snuggles has taken flight into dark matter and dark energy 🐾🚀💫💖!

On Monday, August 22nd, at approximately 7:30 pm, Mr. Snuggles took his last breath of earthly air and transitioned peacefully into the unknowable realms of dark matter and dark energy. One of the immeasurable gifts I have received from Mr. Snuggles is to experience a distinct beauty of grieving: to feel great sadness pooling from an overflow of gratitude, to embrace the completeness of absence unencumbered with regret, to cry with the freedom of letting go, and to love another so thoroughly that his trust in me was absolute. To regard death as an expansive release from life, a freedom, is to reach beyond the confines of an observable universe constructed from the matrix of our beliefs into the impossible and the unimaginable. Mr. Snuggles is free and he has work to do in the unknowable realms.

Before Mr. Snuggles' passing, Carol Cheh performed a tarot reading for him. Among the many insights relayed during the reading, the messages I gravitated toward was a reassurance that it was his time to go, that he needed a new body (or no body at all), and that he has work to do. At the moment of his transition, rows of crows lined the streets around our home, a collective embodiment of the immensity of Mr. Snuggles' spirit, guaranteeing his safe passage to the unknowable realms where he will continue his work to help us expand beyond our 4% universe into dark matter and dark energy.

Mr. Snuggles may have left this earthly plane but his legacy lives on. For those of you who have had the pleasure of experiencing Mr. Snuggles, you might agree that he was like no other creature. He was simultaneously teeth-clenchingly cute and exceptionally repellent, curiously perspicacious and remarkably untalented, intriguingly uninterested and infinitely devoted. Mr. Snuggles was legendary and his legend lives on in photographs, sculptures, and videos permanently housed in museums. And even now, in death, Mr. Snuggles' legacy, his body, warrants an equally fantastic, exceptionally queer consideration to honor his celebrated life here on earth and to encourage his boundless spirit as he continues his work in the inscrutable realms.

When Mr. Snuggles was alive, I presented him with a variety of forms his body could take after he departed it. Prior to his departure, I was fairly certain Mr. Snuggles' body would transmogrify into an enchanted fanny pack. Since his death, however, I have swayed and am considering other options such as traditional taxidermy (of Mr. Snuggles standing with wings on his back, like the mini figurine of him in the egg sculpture) or a Mr. Snuggles floppy stuffed animal or even a Mr. Snuggles rug or a Mr. Snuggles stole. This is where I need your help! Not only do I need help deciding the ultimate form Mr. Snuggles' body shall take, I need help funding this magic-infused transmutation that will continue Mr.Snuggles' legacy and herald in the unknowable realms that will help us expand beyond our 4% universe!

If you are interested in helping and have an opinion on what form you wish to see Mr. Snuggles take for material eternity, please visit the GoFundMe campaign, ✨Mr. Snuggles FOREVER!✨, for more details (and watch a lovely tribute video!). Any donations will be inexhaustibly appreciated! 🙏🏼💗

And if you want to learn more about Mr. Snuggles, his origins and highlights from our thirteen-year relationship, continue reading below 🐶💕.

Where did Mr. Snuggles come from?

Mr. Snuggles was found on a rainy evening on the street where I lived near LACC (Los Angeles City College). I believe this was around winter 2003. Colin, my former partner, had just returned from copping heroin (I’m sure) when he spotted Mr. Snuggles sheltered between two parked cars. Colin attempted to pick him up but Mr. Snuggles growled at him. As soon as Colin entered our apartment, he told me of this little dog who growled at him and I told Colin to go get him.

I’ll never forget the first moments we laid eyes on each other. I was lying in bed when Colin placed a wet Mr. Snuggles on the floor. We stared at each other for what seemed like an unusually long time and I thought to myself, "That’s a weird looking dog." And perhaps Mr. Snuggles was thinking to himself, "That’s a fucked up human." From that moment on, our bond was sealed. But the Mr. Snuggles origin story doesn’t end here! There were a few more hurdles before Mr. Snuggles officially became "ours."

The next day or two, Colin and I were walking out of our apartment with Mr. Snuggles (who, by the way, wasn’t Mr. Snuggles at the time; it took me over a month to discover his perfect name; until then, he was just "dog"), when our downstairs neighbor’s teenage kids stopped us to inform us that Mr. Snuggles was their dog. Colin negotiated with the kids and ended up trading a computer for Mr. Snuggles. Then about two months later, Colin and I were walking Mr. Snuggles down Vermont Blvd when a family passed us and yelled, "Lassie! That’s our dog!" Apparently, the teenage kids who claimed Mr. Snuggles belonged to them unwittingly stole Mr. Snuggles from this family.

Lassie belonged to the little girl in the family and her brother explained how she needed him. By this time, I was thoroughly attached to Mr. Snuggles. The brother recognized our attachment and kindly worked out a joint custody agreement with us. They would keep Mr. Snuggles during the week and we would get to have him for the weekends. For about a month or so, I would go by their house every Friday afternoon to pick up Mr. Snuggles and, every Friday, Mr. Snuggles would jump up and down so excited to see me. Then one Friday, when I went to go pick him up, he wasn’t there. The brother explained that Mr. Snuggles is gone and they don’t know where he is. I searched the entire neighborhood and local animal shelters for Mr. Snuggles but nothing. I didn’t have a photo of Mr. Snuggles so I requested one from the family. It took about two months for me to get a photo of Mr. Snuggles and, by this time, I was nearly convinced he was dead or gone forever. When I picked up the photo from the family, the brother gave me his blessing and offered that if we find Mr. Snuggles, we can keep him.

Immediately, I posted flyers around the neighborhood and at the local gas station about Mr. Snuggles being missing. And THE VERY NEXT DAY, I received a call from a young couple saying they have Mr. Snuggles. AND they had found him outside of our apartment. When we were finally reunited, Mr. Snuggles’ joy and excitement in seeing us was so apparent that this new family smiled and stated, "Oh yes, this is your dog." So, in the end, Mr. Snuggles chose us. And after so many complications and obstacles, we were surely meant to be together.

Mr. Snuggles’ struggles and the drug-addicted years

Mr. Snuggles came into my life at the height of my drug addiction. He endured a lot during these five years. He was there when I was arrested twice, he walked miles with me to the probation office, he copped drugs with me every morning at 5:30 am, and he would get contact high from crack and eat hair off the floor of our car. He was hit by a car twice: once with his former family and once with me. He was in a high-speed, police car chase with Colin down Western Ave that resulted in two cars wrecks through major intersections and ended with Colin getting tasered by the cops. And, if I recall correctly, the brother of his former family told me a story of Mr. Snuggles’ siblings, puppies, being murdered on a balcony and the only reason Mr. Snuggles survived was because he fell off the balcony.

This was Mr. Snuggles’ origins, his early years, the years riddled with addiction and trauma. And throughout these difficult years, Mr. Snuggles trusted me still. He never left my side. When I finally got sober, I vowed to make it up to him and I did.

The golden years with Mr. Snuggles

For the two and a half years I was in rehab, prison, and then sober living, Mr. Snuggles lived with my parents who loved him so dearly that my mom tried to convince me that Mr. Snuggles was happiest with her, which I almost believed (they eventually got a Pomeranian of their own 😄). When Mr. Snuggles and I were finally reunited, once again, our relationship deepened and expanded in wondrous ways and became legendary.

Up until a year ago when laub came into my life, for five years, it was just me and Mr. Snuggles. We were a team like before but better: no drugs, no trauma, no fear! Together, we built a life based in love, revolution, and continuous expansion for all on this earth and beyond! We created work together. We were inseparable. We were in love.

I will never forget the special bond Mr. Snuggles and I shared on this earthly plane, the magic that came from our merging, our utter trust in each other. I am forever grateful for you, Mr. Snuggles. Thank you for choosing me. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for your life and for mine. I will love you, eternally. 🐶👩🏻💞✨