My sweet guy Thurgood, aka Thurgood Face, aka Mr. T, aka Mr. Tees, aka TG, aka Big Guy, aka His Honor has presided over his last case here on earth and joined his sister Ruthie at the SCOTUS in the hereafter. After a stint at the Oregon Humane Society, he spent 15 wonderful years with me, in his early practice helping me study for the Oregon bar and more recently supervising my work from home while also doing his own work surveilling the neighborhood and keeping us safe from the squirrels and birds who menaced from outside. He was particularly fond of his thrones: backs of chairs, couches, and the tops of stacks of bed pillows behind our heads at night. He warmed to his buddy Justin immediately and enjoyed six years with his best bro, including one last boys weekend while I attended a bachelorette trip over Labor Day weekend. On Labor Day Monday he served his final shift guarding the front of the house from his perch on the bedroom windowsill, then spent a relaxing afternoon with both of us on the warm backyard patio. His decline on Tuesday was swift and sudden, but the emergency vet triaged him and said he was stable enough to wait at home until they had room for him. By Wednesday at noon when he was admitted at a different clinic, he was simply too ill for anything but brief palliative care. We were able to snug him close for a while, but in so doing it was abundantly clear he was suffering. I held his little head and gave him pets as the vet administered the sedative, and then we left him in her gentle and empathetic hands to end his pain. The house is lonely without him, and I'm sure my work has suffered in the absence of his keen legal mind, but I am incredibly greatful for the years we had together and the many life events he shepherded me through. Snoozle warmly and well, sweet Thurgood. <3