An emotional goodbye. Jenna Dewan and her fiancé, Steve Kazee, mourned the death of their beloved dog, Violet Mae, on Friday, July 16.
The Soundtrack alum, 40, shared a slideshow of photos with their family pet on Friday afternoon via Instagram.
Jenna Dewan with her dog, Violet Mae insetted. Courtesy of Jenna Dewan/Instagram; Shutterstock
“Our hearts are broken today as we mourn the sudden loss of our Violet Mae,” Dewan captioned her post. “Violet was the sweetest lady i ever knew, the best sneaky kisser in the world and the calm amongst the chaos always. Everyone who met you loved you and it is one the greatest privileges of my life to have had the last few years with you.”
The Step Up star explained that Violet was first Kazee’s dog that she then fell in love with when the couple started dating in October 2018.
“The bond you and Steve shared comes around once in a lifetime and our entire family misses you beyond words,” Dewan continued in her post. “I am holding on to the owl we saw on our porch last night right after you passed being a sign of your wise beautiful soul flying high. I love you my sweet Vi Vi 🙏🏻.”
Kazee, 45, also shared a meaningful tribute to his beloved 9-year-old pet via his Instagram, along with a collection of photos of the two of them.
“Violet Mae Kazee 2012-2021. To know her was to love her,” he wrote in the post. “She was more than a best friend to me. She was my savior. When I lost my mom I truly didn’t know how I would survive. Along came Violet and from the first glance we were soulmates.”
The Broadway alum revealed Violet wasn’t the dog he initially planned to adopt at the time, but after a black lab mix named Jessie died en route to the local shelter, he saw Violet waiting there. “She was sitting in the middle of a pile of brothers and sisters who were all losing their minds as puppies tend to do,” he continued. “Not her. She just stared at me. Into my soul as only Violet could do. I knew she was the one and we never looked back.”
Kazee explained that the years the duo had together were “full of adventures,” including cross-country road trips, beach days, hikes to Griffith Observatory and lots of cuddles. He refers to Violet as his “true north” in the Instagram tribute.
Jenna Dewan with her dog, Violet Mae. Courtesy of Jenna Dewan/Instagram
“If you ever met Violet, and many of you have, you know what I mean,” he added. “She was truly a one of a kind. She held me up through some of the hardest times in my life. She was by my side for some of the best moments in my life.”
Kazee noted that it was just the two of them for “a lot of years” before siblings and a family came. “She was just as amazing with Jenna, Evie and Callum as I knew she would be,” he added. “Soft and gentle and always ready with a sneaky kiss right in the mouth.”
The Shameless alum recalls that “life will never be the same without her” and that Violet’s sudden passing “left us all in shock.” He also shared that their family is focusing on their “most precious” memories of the “good dog.”
The former World of Dance host previously lost her dog Lulu in December 2018 after a battle with cancer. She wrote via Instagram at the time, “To our sweet and fierce Lulu…thank you for being the best dog in the entire world and for fighting cancer for as long as you did. Thank you for your tireless love, protection and humor. Thank you for the adventures.”
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