Bark at the Moon

You know those things in your life you know will eventually happen, it's inevitable, but you just try not to think about it, hoping it will never happen? Well, last Wednesday was exactly that for me. For some people, this story is a completely foreign language to them; for the others, they can relate to how I felt.

The summer before my first grade year was my 6th birthday, and all I wanted was a puppy! I'd been begging for one non-stop ever since my mom had my little brother, and I was upset it wasn't girl! So I begged for a puppy... a girl puppy! For my birthday, we drove about 30 minutes away, walked into a kennel, and about 7 caffeine pumped little white balls of fur came racing towards me and knocked me over. I couldn't have been happier. It was then that I saw her! She was perfect... andI named her Reba, after the country singer.

Over the next couple years, she chewed up shoes, and garden hoses, and flower beds. She dug holes in the yard looking for rodents she would never catch, and she barked at possums at night and kept the neighbors awake. It didn't matter though, she was still the greatest new addition since my baby brother! Years passed by, I finished grade school, high school, and then packed my bags for college. It was the day I left for college, when Reba came outside to say good-bye, that my dad looked at her and said "you know Andrea, she's not a puppy anymore, dogs don't live forever."

Now, of course I knew this, but I wasn't going to actually think about it! She was still that crazy little puppy I remember. My freshman year rolled by, no problems, and now my sophmore year was coming to a close. Over Christmas break this past year, I could tell she was slowing down, and her breathing was inconsistent... but in my mind, she was still healthy. Then came the call on Thursday morning. "Andrea, you remember how slow Reba was around Christmas time? and, do you remember how she was struggling to get up and down? Reba isn't with us anymore... she passed away last night."

My immediate reaction was "Yeah right... good one dad! You really fooled me!" But he wasn't joking, and I knew it deep down. The hardest part was when my dad said that she laid down in the front yard while my brothers and my dad were playing baseball, and then my mom came outside, and everyone was there for her for her last moments alive. Everyone except me! My dad said she kept lifting her head and looking down the road, almost like she was waiting for something.

I don't think people always understand how personal pets can be. Animals really can become part of the family, and an important part. I will never forget my dog, or how I used to dress her up in little baby dresses, and put her in wagons and pull her around the yard. Or even when I would build tree houses and she was the guard dog! She will always be our family dog, no matter how many we have. She will be missed, but she will never be forgotten!