MY DOG

It is a long time ago now that I first received this dear friend. I was five years old and I only had two siblings. We lived at our old white rancher on Brookdale drive over by the old LOWES. I wanted a dog so badly, just like every boy when he's young. I asked and I asked for a dog but mom and dad wouldn't budge, their was to be no dog in their house. So I cooked up an elaborate plan as elaborate as it can be in the mind of five year old. I knew that if I got Hayley and Greg to ask at the same time I did they wouldn't be able to refuse us. They did and once again my attempts to get a dog were foiled.

The next morning I awoke and took a shower with my dad. When we got out, my dad told me to look out back and I thought for sure that he had gotten me my dog. I ran excitedly to the windows at the back of the house and peered hopefully into the backyard only to find it full of wet grass and a very stormy sky. My heart dropped down to my feet and right through the floor and settled quite roughly on the dirt. Dad spoke, which brought me out of my reverie, he said: Hey Ben look in the kitchen! OH BOY!!! There was my dog, my very own dog... He was so happy that his whole body was wagging right down to the tip of his tail. My dog came running up to me jumping up and down, barking and licking me, his eyes beaming happiness.

We didn't know what to call him, not for a lack of names but for a lack of good names. So for the first couple of months he was simply known as Dog, until a fortunate outing at Pemberton Park. My family really enjoyed PP back when I was a kid, picnics, bike riding, walking and the beautiful scenery. This particular Fall outing we were simply out for a stroll through the woods. Our walk lead us down to the river where there are wooden platforms to stand on to get a better view of the river and wildlife. We had just passed one of these when it was observed that Dog looked a lot like a piece of fallen Cedar wood. Once we realized this, the name stuck and everyone fell in love with the name, Cedar!

Some how he new that we belonged together, he was my dog and I was his boy. Every night he would jump into my bed and take as much space as possible; I never minded because he made the night safe, he made me safe. His warm reddish fur moving fluidly with each breath never ceased to comfort me. He was a dog that loved white socks, he would lovingly nibble at our toes when we would tease him with our feet. If there was a piece of wood around he would chew it, sticks were one of his favorites. His soul nevered stopped playing.

When he was twelve he started getting a twitch and we didn't know what was wrong with him, so he went to the vets. The Doc diagnosed and treated him for limes disease but we had caught it too late he already had permanent damage. I watched him deteriorate for the next four years. He couldn't make it on my bed anymore, he could barely make it down the stairs to get outside. When I went outside he still followed me and if I tried to leave him inside he would bark until I let him out. I was their when he couldn't bark anymore. I was their when he had seizures. I was there for his life. I wept when they took him to the vets to be realized. I wept when my dad carried him in his arms to be buried. I wept for my friend.

He was and will always be my favorite pet, he was mine, he was my friend. No matter where I went he always went too. When I decided to play in the drainage pond he gladly joined the group, when we played hide and seek he always found us, when we went sledding he followed us down the hill and when I walked home in the dark he marched fearlessly ahead of me. If I went into a friends house he waited until I came out, if I went into the woods to explore he faithfully followed, if I was sad he licked away my tears, if I was happy he played with me, he was my friend. Goodbye my friend.