One of the hardest parts of owning a pet or pets is watching them grow old. You picked them out when they were small, and as the years passed by, so much changed in your life, but they stayed the same. For those with a family pet that they brought home when they were a child, while you are growing up, you expect that dog or cat to always be there. You rarely think about its age until their fur begins to grey or they begin to walk slowly up the stairs. You wonder how you never noticed all of these things before they became impossible to overlook, and all of a sudden it hits you: your pet will pass away soon. While their lives are just a small fraction of yours, you are their whole life and are there for every part of it. It isn't easy to accept, but it is a part of life if your family bought a puppy one day when you were little and that dog grew up alongside you. The love shared between a pet and its family is proof of just how special it was, but that's not all it gives its family over the years. Over the course of a family pet's life, the way it lives can teach you what it means to love others well and live life to the fullest.