You’re always there for me, no matter what I am going through. You’ve watched me grow up, which means you’ve seen my best and worst days (even the embarrassing middle school days where I thought wearing a tutu in public was socially acceptable). Even so, you don’t judge. You listen to me like no other; you stay by my side like it’s the most natural thing in the world. You do your best to pick me up when I’m feeling down, and your constant excitement for life is my favorite comfort of all. You are terribly close to my heart, and you’ll always have a place there. I love you so much more than you can understand.

You are a dog.

And when I set off into the next adventure of my life, you are whom I’m going to miss the most.

As strange as it sounds, it’s the truth. Sure, friends and parents are great and all, and just about everything I have ever known is about to disappear. But there are many ways of dealing with the pain of separating with those things. For one, cell phones exist--I can contact any human I wish to at (almost) any given moment. Pets, on the other hand, can’t hold a conversation over the phone; my dog can’t tell me about her day in a text, or snap me a picture of what she had for lunch. She also can't see me coming home and wag her tail in excitement through a screen, or drop a ball at my feet for me to throw on Facetime, and I can’t digitally scratch her behind the ears and cuddle her into oblivion on the couch. Once I step foot out of my parents’ house, my relationship with her is put on hold until I return home again.

This lack of long distance communication is the very reason why missing my dog will be most prominent. When I leave, she isn’t going to understand that I’m only going to be a couple hours away, not leaving forever and never coming back. Not only that, but I'll be desperately missing the unparalleled solace of having someone to give me sloppy "kiss" after a long day, or to cry on and pour my heart out to without fear of judgement. The fact of the matter is that the joy of having a pet can't be accessed from a dorm room.

Missing something that I can only appreciate in person is a problem not easily alleviated. Hence, whom I will be missing most dearly is not anyone I can hold a conversation over text with, or shoot an email to. It’s the companion of my childhood, my number one fan, the only being in the world who I could never disappoint; it is my dog, and I will miss her deeply.

Here’s to hoping that she doesn’t forget my entire existence.