Maxamillion - a million reasons to love, cherish and miss our special Max (Maskarade's The Illusionist).
So much life!
So much happiness!
He would bring a room to life with his presence and put a smile on anyone's face within seconds. So much Max to remember and cherish, we will highlight three of his magic attributes...
The Athlete
Max LOVED to run with his favorite activity being skijoring (pulling Brad on skis all over the Colorado backcountry). Max, Zorro and Brad took up skijoring in the spring of 2010 when Max was 3 and Zorro almost 2. Max and Zorro were naturals and Brad, after many falls, eventually learned to stay upright most of the time. Max LOVED to get on packed snow and go full throttle. The grace at which he ran 24-27 MPH was astonishing, as if he was not even working, just gliding. Max had long legs which were perfect for breaking trail in deep snow. He LOVED to get in 8-20 inches of powder and blaze the trail for Zorro and Brad. Always the spontaneous wit, Max also LOVED to "roll snow angels". During any skijoring break, he would typically stop, drop and roll in the snow. Sometimes it was to cool off; but most of the time it was Max's silly way of showing his love and appreciation of snow and running on snow.
Max's career as a professional skijor athlete (Apr 2010 to Oct 2017): 7602.6 miles traveled with 880,450 feet (167 miles) of elevation ascended (and descended). What an athlete! Max & Zorro's Skijor Blog
The Therapist
Max was a registered Therapy Dog who excelled at the Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D.) program. Max would spend the school year at Upper Blue Elementary School where he was assigned 5-8 students to read with one-on-one throughout the school year. His work with the kids was, as was Max's signature for everything, ASTOUNDING! He could sense exactly what each child wanted in their reading relationship. Some kids he would immediately put his head in his/her lap while they read. Some kids he would literally blanket with his body. While other kids he would sense a shyness and lay next to him/her and take a period of weeks or months to slowly inch his head into his/her lap (which was ALWAYS welcome by the child by the time Max decided it was appropriate). Max spent his summers at the Breckenridge Library as a part of their Summer Reading Program. Any child could signup to "read with a dog" and get to spend 15-20 minutes with a book & Max.
Max's therapy dog career spanned from Jun 2010 to Oct 2017 as he positively influenced the lives of hundreds of young children (and onlooking adults too)!
The Spontaneous Wit
Mellow Max certainly had his comical and goofy side. He knew the Siberian Husky "woo" (a wolfish howl); but did conversation level woos, not loud howls. We referred to these as woo-murs (a woo murmur). If Max wanted something, he would stroll up to you, flash his lovely smile, swoosh his tail and let out a woo-mur or two or three. You could not help but bust up laughing and give him whatever it was he was asking. Max loved to bait Zorro into "play" and then act as if Zorro started it all. We would often be laying around the house relaxing and Max's tail would suddenly swoosh up/down and he would let out a woo-mur at himself, roll upside down on his back and then let out an upside down woo-mur or two. It was as if Max was saying, "Hey, nobody's smiling, nobody's laughing - watch this!!!" Such spontaneous wit kept us full of smiles and laughter throughout all of Max's life.
As you can see by the pictures on this page, it was rare to get a photo of Max when he was not smiling. So full of life, so full of happiness!
We love you Max. We miss you Max. You will remain at the front of our hearts and thoughts FOREVER!
