‘With John now': Meredith Gaudreau says goodbye to another member of the family

Meredith announced Tuesday that Kingy, her 10-year-old dog, had died weeks before the second anniversary of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau's deaths.

Kingy wasn't merely a pet Johnny grew attached to. He was present at the exact beginning of Meredith and Johnny's story.

In a 2025 essay, Meredith recalled meeting Johnny in Avalon during the summer of 2018. She had finished a Children's Hospital shift, with Kingy lying at her feet, when Johnny knocked.

In the shared image, Kingy sits upright beside Johnny while Johnny leans back, one hand resting behind the dog.

That framing carries the story.

It turns an ordinary day into part of the family archive.

Kingy knew Meredith before Johnny did. Then he remained through Calgary, Columbus, marriage and the arrival of their three children.

Dogs can become the only living constant across moves, homes and parenthood, carrying routines that everyone else never saw.

Meredith's words, “Through it all my boy,” land differently with that history. Kingy was present before there was a couple to photograph.

Her final phrase, “With John now,” has precise emotional logic. It reunites Kingy with the person who entered Meredith's life while Kingy lay by the couch.

The calendar adds another layer.

Meredith posted 9 days before Johnny would have turned 33.

The announcement also landed 25 days before the second anniversary.

Johnny and Matthew died on August 29, 2024, after they were struck while cycling in New Jersey.

The anniversary is only one date closing in.

This is more than a simple pet-loss post. Kingy's death removes a witness to the first chapter, not just a companion from later ones inside Meredith's private history with Johnny.

For the Gaudreau family, the loss reaches backward: the couch in Avalon, the hospital shift, the knock and the moment before Johnny became John.

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