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The Backstory to Luna Was Here

Luna was one of my best friends. She was 11 when she died. That's young for a Chihuahua – well, middle-aged really. Even though she was a little six pound dog, she had the ability to fill a room with her outsized personality. She had a hilarious tendency to be bossy and in charge, letting me know when it was time for dinner or when she wanted to go outside. She was a very clear communicator. To the other animals in the house, she was a good friend and stabilizing force. Even now, months after she died, Cash (our cat) and Rosie (our other dog) are still trying to come to a balance in their relationship. Luna was able to keep everyone in check. Also, most importantly, she was the greatest snuggler in the world. The best. I miss my warm stinky little friend.

And so with an ending there is a new beginning...

"Luna Was Here" is a project that had its genesis in a dream. A month or so before she died of cancer, I had a dream in which I put up stickers with her picture on it all over the world to memorialize her and remind everyone that she had been here. I sat with this for awhile. It was in my mind, but actually starting the project felt like an admission that she was going to die. I wasn't ready for that yet.

Finally on Tuesday April 24th, 2018 Luna's beautiful little body gave out. I announced on social media that she had finally died. Here's what I wrote on Instagram that day and the kind words friends posted as a response to her death.

This is a picture of the last morning of my dear friend Stella Luna, who we called Luna. She had been battling mast cell cancer since August. It was the second time she was stricken with this disease but this time it was the worst form you can get. We tried just about everything to help her: surgeries, chemo therapies, raw diet, home cooked ketogenic food, herbs, prescription meds, oils, CBD elixirs, plant enzymes- everything within reason.
Sadly over the weekend her beautiful little body finally really began to give out. And so with great sadness we decided intercede and end what was surely going to be a period of extreme discomfort for her with no possibility of recovery.

We know that this is part of the deal when we decide to let these little furry friends into our lives and become full fledged family members. I have no doubt that many of you have had to go through this yourselves with your little (or big) friends.

I want to thank all the friends that have helped in her care. There were a myriad of great doctors who also must be thanked. Despite their wisdom and efforts there was nothing to be done to fight this aggressive awful disease.

Luna I will miss your amazing warm full body snuggles, your silly bratty personality, your inveterate begging for any and all forms of food, your stinky wonderful loving nose licks, your amazing perfect ears, your heartfelt disdain for any and all delivery people, making your complicated involved meals, our daily walks around the block, our hikes in the redwoods with Rosie and Molly, you sleeping in my lap while I worked on projects on the computer, watching you listen to me while I played guitar and sang loudly and with gusto, your excited greetings when I would return home, watching movies with you, the crunching sound of you eating our favorite cheese popcorn and your soft little gentle corn chip paws. I love you my friend. The world seems empty today. I will always miss you. #luna #chihuahua #chihuahuasofinstagram #oakland #love #goodbye #doggy #cancer #brokenheart
schoonbuggySo sorry buddy. I can’t even imagine. 😐
le_mellophotoi’m sorry Eric! I know you loved her very much. 😘
waynestock77My heart goes out to you and your family, Eric! So much love for that furry little person 💕
dianmitchI’m so sorry Eric. I never met Luna but I felt like I knew her from all of your posts. ❤️.
barbelledreams💔
n3gMy condolences Eric. 😢
ozterizerSo sad to hear of this but what a wonderful remembrance of a beautiful little pup. Rest in peace, Luna.
judy_ennuiPeace dear Luna, you blessed the world with your wag and we will miss you always. 🐾❤️🐾
nickthejewelergram😢 So sorry Eric
quantum_heart❤️🙏❤️
hanskellnerI’m sorry Eric. So very painful. Thanks for being a great caretaker to Luna. And for posting your memories. They resonate. I’ll miss her.
jlpierce0A truly beautiful and heartfelt celebration for your loved one. So sorry.
sukibakerEric, I'm so sorry! Beautiful eulogy for your beloved little buddy. So much joy with these little ones but such sadness when they pass through. Thinking of you!
stevievoonduhkinSo sorry. Love seeing your beautiful photos of her beautiful self. She will live on through them! RIP
halloweenteeth💔💔💔 Goodbye sweet Luna. You were so wonderful.
rustyphotoEric, Molly & Emma, We are so sorry to hear of Luna’s passing... She was a wonderful unique spirit, kind of like the rest of her family, ❤️ R&R
king_gidoraThe Luna will be in the sky every night.
thewanderer415No words can fill the void my friend. Just know what a gift you were both given to have found it such other.

Luna Was Here

After about six weeks I finally felt up to the task of creating the sticker. If I was going to put stickers all over the world I had to start by making the stickers, right? I knew the hardest part would be to gather and then go through all of the pictures I'd taken of her. It was. There are so many really cute pictures of her that bring up so many great memories. Two things came to mind: How could I choose one picture, and the second was that it really hit home that she was gone. I went through hundreds of pictures and made dozens of mock-ups, but I finally settled on one that just really reminded me of her. The picture I chose is from a hike that we as a family took on Christmas day. In the picture she is looking up at me and checking in. She did this all the time. It was how she would briefly connect with me as we ventured about. She would follow me anywhere anytime. We were bonded. I could have chosen other pictures that were cuter, funnier and just plain a better photo but this is the one that felt right for this project. Here's the sticker:

With the sticker created I now had the problem of how to plaster it all over the world. So I did what every broken hearted dog lover would do: I put out an appeal to the internet. Maybe I couldn't go everywhere in the world, but I do have friends and acquaintances in a lot of places in the world and many of those people travel for work of for pleasure. Along with an image of the sticker, I posted this plea on Instagram:

Free Stickers! I will mail you free stickers. As you may or may not know one of my best friends, Luna, died a couple of months ago. This is a picture of her when she, Molly, Emma, Rosie and I were on a Christmas day hike a couple of years ago. It was such a great day and this is one of my favorite ways in which I remember her- looking up at me and being happy. When it became clear that she wasn’t going to survive her cancer affliction one night I had a dream where I put up stickers of her all over the world with the simple message- Luna was here. It’s taken me a couple of months to be able to make the stickers. Truthfully it was just too hard emotionally to go through all the photos I’ve taken of her. But that being said, I still have a dream of putting her stickers up all over the world. So I’m asking if you can help me with that. If you PM me your address I will send you a couple stickers in the hope that you will put them up somewhere and send me a picture of it and where you put it. Thanks- Luna Was Here. #luna #lunawashere #freesticker #chihuahua #chihuahuasofinstagram #endcancer #oakland #love #bestfriend #whendoggiesdie

The response has been great and immediate. In a week I got so many requests for stickers that I quickly ran out of the first batch. The day after I posted on Instagram I got a text from my good friend Edona. Her son Ezra had a friend who was going to France the next day and would happily put up a Luna sticker in Paris. Two days later I got a text from Edona it had this picture of one of Luna's stickers put up on a pole in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I immediately began to cry tears of joy and sadness because I miss my little friend so much. I haven't met the young man who put it up, Eli Bamburger, but I will always be grateful that he did that for me.

Here's the picture:

If you're in Paris you can see the first Luna sticker put up. It's in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral! — If you're in **Paris** you can see the first Luna sticker put up. It's in front of the **Notre Dame Cathedral**!

And so moving forward...

I've already received numerous pictures of the sticker out in the wild and I've put up a bunch myself. In the coming days I will be posting more of these images. I'm making this webpage myself. I have to admit my skills are lacking and I haven't quite figured out the best way in which to display this project but I'm slogging through the best I can. It's part of the process, Right?

Okay- If you have some stickers and you haven't put them up yet and sent me a picture of them in the wild it's a great time to do it! It can be a bit nerve wracking to actually do it, but it's really sort of fun. If you are nervous about doing it you can alleviate some of that stress by looking and seeing where other people have put up stickers. Those are generally great places to put them. If you see stickers up somewhere it means a couple of things: People put up stickers there! And stickers stay up there. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Also I am thinking of how I might incentivize you fine folks to actually put them up. I have several ideas that I think might be fun tokens of my appreciation.

If you want some stickers hit me up and I'd be happy to send them to you. The offer is good while supplies last.

ëG...

August 21, 2018

Croix de Luna

Eric Goodfield October 19, 2018

I am happy to announce the Croix de Luna! The CDL is a button that is awarded as a thank you and acknowledgement of the bravery for those of you who have deployed a Luna Was Here sticker out in the wild. THANK YOU!

In the next fews days and weeks, I will start posting the pix you have sent me from around the world of Luna’s sticker. The picture on the CDL button depicts Luna with her little tongue out. One of the best things she used to do was give little nose kisses- sneaky little licks on the nose. If you’ve deployed a sticker and sent me a picture I will be sending you a button (or more than one if you’ve put up more than one). Pretty simple, right? Some of you still have stickers that you haven’t put up yet. I’m hoping that you post them and let me send you your own Croix de Luna. For more info and a list of those of you who have been awarded the CDL go to ericgoodfield.com/luna-was-here