Actress Jennifer Garner has announced the death of her beloved 9-year-old golden retriever, Birdie. "It is hard to know how to write this -- it seems nuts, given the world, to mourn a pet, but since we have shared Birdie with all of you,

Jennifer Garner is grieving ahead of the holiday season. The 13 Going on 30 actress revealed that her dog, Birdie, died just before Thanksgiving in a heartbreaking tribute post shared to her Instagram.

“The vet told us that dogs often hang on until their person comes home from college,” Garner said, referring to her oldest daughter, Violet Anne Affleck, 18. “And we believe Birdie did just that, so that we could pet her soft ears together and thank her for being the world’s best dog.”