Hazel Simone Zildjian

c. February 2003 – November 4th 2018

“Corgis are enchanted. You need only to see them in the moonlight to know this.”

— Tasha Tudor

On Sunday, my deeply beloved, most enchanting Hazel Simone Zildjian passed away at home. She gave me the gift of letting me hold her in my arms as she left us, with both Mom and Dad with their hands on her, and Phoebe’s love so palpably present.

Hazel brought joy and comfort to all who met her, and her many thousands of online fans, duly enchanted by her balancing tricks. Despite her online fame, she was a retiring lady who preferred a firm bed, a good patch of sun, and the company of a choice few beloved humans. Hazel saved my life. Knowing and loving her has defined my heart from the age of 11, when I first saw the little white moon on her head and chose her as my own. She was my strength, my confidant, my baby. Phoebe and I called her a worry sponge, and often joked that her plump frame was not chub, but the result of her eating and dispelling our anxieties. Family lore also has it that some of that bulk came from hidden wings. On Sunday, those wings deployed, and our dear girl flew off to wait for us, pain free, in heaven.

Queen Elizabeth II, a fellow lover of corgis, once said that “Grief is the price we pay for love.” How deep my love for Hazel is, and how deep the grief. However, it is a price I proudly pay for the love of my own sweet Queen.