When I was four years old, my parents got my brothers and me a dog. At first I wasn’t excited. My first memory of my new pup is of him teething on the edge of my new pajama top. I wasn’t a fan of him then, but after his little tooth was dislodged from my sleeve, I noticed how cute he was, and it was nothing but love.
His little chocolate face grew into a big chocolate block head. And his cute little puppy paws grew to carry a ninety pound beast of a dog. But it wasn’t always easy with him. Riley, as we decided to name our new family member, was kind of a terror at first. He ate countless pairs of socks, money (only big bills), pairs of glasses, and even rings. He destroyed the legs of our wooden dining room table and always had my dad’s sneaker in his mouth. You couldn’t leave him near the garbage can alone and he would try to pull ornaments off the Christmas tree and almost drag the whole tree down along with them.
But, he was my best friend. My first best friend. From the time I was four years old until right before I turned 16, I had a constant companion. I had someone to share snacks with, and someone to snuggle with. On days I stayed home from school, my pup would stay with me with his head on my lap all day. And even as he got older, and his hips started to get weaker, he would still try his best to jump into my bed or run to the door to greet me with a tail wag that shook his whole body and a warm puppy kiss.
And then he got sick. He was old. His eyes got clouded with cataracts, and his joints got weak. He started to go deaf and soon he couldn’t even make it up the stairs. And we had to say goodbye.
But I haven’t forgotten my first dog. I haven’t forgotten how much he liked walks up to the water tower, or how much he wagged his tail when I talked to him in a high pitched voice. Or how he was the best, most loving dog I have ever had the pleasure of calling part of my family.
Dogs are incredible. They have all this love to give and all they ask for is love in return. They are just so happy to be in someone’s life. And I was so lucky to have Riley in mine.
