Former National Football League (NFL) superstar Tom Brady took to social media over the weekend to mourn the death of his family's pet dog, Lua. 

Brady and his former wife, Gisele Bundchen, announced the passing of Lua on Instagram on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, just two days before Christmas.

Bundchen's post reads:

Our little Lulu, our guardian angel is gone to heaven. She will forever live in our hearts. We already miss her sooooo much! #unconditionallove RIPLua

The post includes numerous photographs of Lua with Bundchen and with Bundchen and Brady's two children, Benjamin Rein, 14, and Vivian Lake, 11.

Brady also posted his own Instagram message about Lua's passing, and it, too, included many photographs of the dog, including photographs of the dog with his children.

Brady captioned one photograph, "We love you Lua, RIP," and he captioned another one, "Forever in our hearts."

Lua was a big part of the Brady and Bundchen family.

People magazine reports:

Bündchen and Brady — who divorced in 2022 — adopted the pit bull mix during their marriage, and Lulu has been a prominent member of the family through the years. Brady regularly posted about her on social media, and the dog even played on the beach with him in his 2014 Ugg Australia commercial.

The Daily Mail reports that Brady is "a known dog lover," highlighting the fact that "he has volunteered at a dog shelter with his children before."

The worker at the shelter posted a social media message about Brady's volunteering, writing, " I guess I’ll chime in with my Tom Brady story . . . but it’s not the one about 7 Super Bowls or being down 28-3 or his last pass as a Patriot. We all know those."

The worker continued, "It’s the one about the dad who volunteered at the animal shelter with his kids throughout an entire football season. The one where he bonded with his kids over naming puppies and bottle-feeding kittens. The one where he silently showed up every other week to make a difference for his family and his community."

The worker went on to say that, for Brady, the volunteering was not "about publicity, fundraising, or recognition."

Rather, the worker said that, for Brady, "it was about being a human being" and about "Tom taking the very thing his little girl loves the most and turning it into an opportunity to spend time together."