Tiffany Killblane, M3, Class of 2023
| Lokus Corgus Maximus (that was his full AKC name) or Loki for short was my first dog that I got as an adult–I literally picked his floofy corgi butt up on my way from graduating with my bachelors degree and leaving Colorado to start my masters degree in Kansas. He was 7 weeks old when we headed to Wichita together. He was my best friend and rock through my twenties: bad decisions and bad relationships, moving into apartments with nothing but a bedroom set, me learning how to become a college instructor, him learning how to become a service dog and even fathering a few sets of puppies (which terrified him in much the same way having human babies for the first time terrify human adults). |
| I’m the kind of person who likes to be around people, even if I am not actively engaging with them, so studying for Step 1 plus the compounded isolation of COVID was a new and difficult journey for me. But every day I sat down in a bedroom we converted to a study, Loki took his place on a little blanket he had claimed as his own (we progressively set up a little spot with toys, bowls, etc too) and kept me company. It is no small wonder then that losing him to liver failure on Jan 4th 2021 at the age of 10 as I really ramped up into studying for Step 1 was a huge blow. People always told me small dogs lived longer, so I often felt that I was robbed of time.
I found solace as I always try to: with people, with dogs to cuddle (I have 3 dogs still – 2 corgis, one of which is a puppy of his and reminds me of him a lot), and with art. He had this habit of plopping on my chest with a goofy dog grin every morning when it was time to wake up, which I immortalized here, based off a photo I’d snapped of him doing just that. “If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they are.” – Will Rogers. |
Med Intima 