A Quiet Celebration for Rudy B Goody Pumpkin Brown

Yesterday, we celebrated a very special birthday.

Rudy B Goody Pumpkin Brown turned 12.

There is something about marking time with a dog that feels different—softer, more honest. Maybe it’s because they don’t measure life in years, but in moments. And Rudy has been part of so many of mine.

He was born on the same day I first met my husband. At the time, I didn’t know that this tiny puppy would one day become woven into the fabric of our life together. But somehow, that date quietly tied our stories together from the very beginning.

Rudy didn’t come to me until August 2014. He arrived by plane from Minneapolis to Seattle—a small, brave traveler starting a new chapter. I remember one of my first dates with my now-husband. He suggested I bring Rudy along. We sat on a patio, and there he was—calm, sweet, completely at ease with the world. The best puppy. As if he already knew he belonged.

In many ways, he has been with us for as long as our relationship has existed. A quiet constant. A witness to everything.

Over the years, Rudy has traveled with us, settled into new rhythms with us, and grown alongside us. He’s seen different homes, different seasons, different versions of who we were becoming. And through it all, he has remained exactly who he is—steady, gentle, and full of heart.

Now, he’s also a big brother to Mollie. Watching them together is its own kind of joy—one teaching patience, the other bringing playful energy into the everyday.

At 12, Rudy moves a little slower. The days feel a bit more precious. But there is a beauty in this season too. A kind of quiet presence that asks you to slow down with him, to notice more, to appreciate what simply is.

And maybe that’s what makes this moment feel so aligned with Wabi-Sabi—the understanding that time leaves its mark, and that those marks are not something to fix, but something to honor.

We hope he stays with us for many more years.

But more than that, we’re grateful for every single day he already has.

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With love,
Inga