I'm writing this article and my yellow lab is staring at me waiting for me to go to bed. She does this every night, pressuring me to let her lay in my bed or rub her tummy and you know what? I do it. I scratch behind her ears, let her give me doggy kisses, and let her shove me to the corner of my bed every night. I let her do this because I have a sliver of information that some of you with your pets might not realize... They can be gone at any time.

The first dog that I can remember having was my black lab Sammy. She wasn't the most affectionate dog, not like my yellow lab Emma, but she was my first dog. After my brother, Tyler, moved out of the house, she would find comfort in my bedroom deep in the basement. As a storm raged outside or when sirens blared for a tornado warning, she would limp down into my bedroom and relax next to my bed. Now you see my dog Sammy had her leg amputated when I was a freshman in high school because it got caught in an animal trap. Everybody in the house would see her day by day hobble outside to go to the bathroom, waddle downstairs to the basement to beg for my food, or just sit silently with her tongue out while I ate dinner at the kitchen table. At the time, I would get so annoyed with her, upset that she kept begging for food or she would pee in my room from being so scared of the storms. Then I slowly realized something; my dog, with three legs, was putting all her energy and effort into just being able to walk around the house. You could see it in her eyes while she had nightmares at night, how she could barely sit down. I watched day in and day out as my dog, my first dog, my Sam Sam, trudged through the remaining days of her life.

I was in denial that she needed to be put down for a really long time because she'd been there for a lot of things. I remember the times she'd chase my brother and I down in a Sully costume from "Monsters Inc." She'd rip and tear at the costume, but the minute you pulled down the hood she'd pant and sit, knowing that her best friends were behind the gimmick. I remember being only seven years old and taking both of my dogs for walks, and they just pulled me the entire way because they were so excited to see the trees, the frogs, and everything nature had to offer. I would shuffle through these memories and I felt them even more on the ride over to the pound.

My brother and I sat in the back seat with her the entire way there. We assured her that everything was going to be OK and she would be in a better place. If you look at the picture above, that was one of the last times that I was with one of my best friends. The vet did his procedure and I watched, as if time itself slowed down for me, her eyes begin to fade. I'd like to imagine that in those moments, she was happy for the pain to finally end. She was no longer a 14-year-old dog, but back in her prime sprinting through our back yard, four legs and all.

Your dog is the first best friend that you have. They lick the tears from your eyes, they know exactly what to do when you're feeling at your worst. It's easy to get mad at your dog for just being the animal that it is, peeing on the floor or eating the Chinese food you just bought (which has happened to me on multiple occasions). You have to remember that our pets aren't here for as long as we are; our pets are like stars that burn bright, twice as bright as us, but using that light causes them to fade from existence. Our pets do not fade from our hearts though, and they will always hold a special place in our lives.

So for all the people out there, whether it's your first pet or your second, remember that our little friends have limited time on earth. They're here to look out for us, comfort us and remind us that even in these screwed up times there is something still beautiful with the world. Now, I'm going to end this article because Emma keeps pacing back and forth waiting for me to go to bed, and I'd like to spend the rest of the night cuddled with my dog watching the episode of Arrow that I recorded on my TV.

As for the animals that aren't with us? Know that they are all in a place called the "Rainbow Bridge." Where they are no longer old- they are whole, and they are happy. Just remember that our best friends are in the best of places, and most importantly, the best parts of our heart.