By Joshua Huff, sports editor
EAST LANSING — Though this story has little to do with the coming and goings of The Trussville Tribune coverage area, it’s sometimes nice to take a step back and enjoy the heartwarming aspects of what can be a cold and tough world.
Such as this story from East Lansing, Michigan, involving Michigan State senior Josh Butler.
The Spartans’ cornerback lost both of his parents while he was with the Michigan State football team. His father, Steven, died of a heart attack in November 2017, and his mother, Ladrida Bagley, succumbed to breast cancer 18 months later.
So, for the annual Senior Day tradition, Butler decided to walk onto the field with his two adopted dogs, Roxy and Remi. The two, both boxer and red-nosed bulldog mixes, were adopted by Butler following the death of his parents. In a wonderful story by the Lansing State Journal, Butler described how he fed the two straight from the bottle and “taught Roxy to train the younger Remi how to fetch and walk on a leash. When his alarm goes off for 5 a.m. workouts twice a week, they give him the same look until he gets up.”
And on Senior Day, both Roxy and Remi stood in place of his departed parents.
“It’s OK to cry sometimes,” Butler told the Lansing State Journal. “At the end of the day, you just have to remember the impact they have had on my life, what they have taught me and how I will keep that as long as I live. Just knowing they are in a better place now and you still have to live your life as well.”
In remembrance of his parents, Butler has a tattoo of a pink ribbon, for breast cancer awareness, and wears his father’s crematory tag around his neck.
Both Roxy and Remi have since become stars after Butler created an Instagram account, @joshbutlertv.
Josh Butler, in Spartan Stadium for the last time. pic.twitter.com/WE18LkBcl4
— David Harns (@DavidHarns) November 30, 2019