Her name was Tracy. She was beautiful, loving, passionate, kind, and fun. Oh, you’re probably wondering who I’m talking about huh? Well…Tracy was my eight year best friend who happened to be a dog. A lab/hound mix to be exact. I was five when I got her. She came from a shelter in Virginia where I had lived at the time, so yeah she was a rescue.

I had wanted a dog so badly when I was younger and I will never regret all the begging and the plees every day of my life until I got one. My parents had finally given in one day and went to a shelter nearby, but they hadn’t told me as I at school at the time. Apparently it was like love at first sight when my mom first laid eyes on her, at least as far as I know.

My dad had wanted to get a husky, but… the only one there wasn’t quite friendly. Mom had walked around a bit until she…stopped. She looked to a cage next to her and saw Tracy. The girl was completely silent-she never liked to bark-and just stared at my mom the whole time. Dad had tried to drag her around the area to look at more of the options, but they came back to the same spot and they knew she was the one.

When they had asked about her they found out she was of about age three. Though she had a collar no one had come for her or anything and she had been there for quite some time, so she was gonna be put to sleep a few days later even though she was the sweetest and the fairest one of all.

After school my parents had picked me up instead of letting me on the bus. With them was my little brother who is younger by slightly more than three years. I still don’t like that guy. Then they tore off down the road for some reason I couldn’t figure out.

When we had finally gotten to the shelter they led us into a room and sat us down as they went through a different door. After a few minutes of just sitting there the door burst open to reveal Tracy. She looked so happy with her tongue lolling out, jumping around, tail wagging. When she saw my little brother and I she almost immediately pounced on us and started licking us from head to toe.

I remember laughing and asking if we could keep her ‘cause she apparently was the best dog I had ever met. When they walked us out of the room with her and towards the car I squealed in delight and hugged her tightly.

“What’s her name?” I remember asking.

They told me her name was Tracy.

“Oh Tracy, we’ll be best friends forever and ever and ever and ever!” I recall saying this and I still smile back on it now. This is what I had hoped, but I was younger then and didn’t understand how the world worked at the time. I didn’t know she wouldn’t be around forever and I still wish she was.

I recall all the happy, and sad times we had we had together. Like the first night we had her and I fell asleep on her side. All the Christmases we had with her jumping and hopping and eating up all the snow and chasing mice. We even got her, her own stalking for presents and treats. She a bed and toys and treats her whole first Christmas with us and she loved it. She ate all the chocolate though.

Her first time to the beach with the family was hectic. She was always constantly running around in the sand, barking at other dogs, playing, dashing into the ocean water and darting back out, have us chase her at full speed whenever she would get be off her leash.

We both shared so many memories together. Like whenever I got scared or I cried and got sad she would trot on over and wrap her body around me, lay in my lap, and lick my face as I cried. Whenever we brought her in the car she would either get really lazy-like she always did-or stick her head out the window and let breeze fly through her autumn colored fur and let her tongue hang out.

We would always play games and roughhouse, but not to much ‘cause then she would get protective of me. When we went camping with her she jumped into a muddy lake and started drinking and swimming at the same time as we yelled for her to get out. She wouldn’t listen and just stayed there the whole time.

Whenever I would rub her belly or scratch her neck an actual smile would appear on her loving face. When there was a snowfall she would chase the snowballs I threw, trip me with her leash and drag me through the blanket of white as I laughed, or just jumped in and disappeared into hiding she would bolt over and dig me out.

We were happy until last week on Monday, the 27th of November of 2017 she passed away because of lung cancer we had no clue about. I was absolutely heartbroken when I had heard as my mom woke me up to tell me the bad news. Whenever I look around even though now I know she’s gone I still see her standing there licking my hand and lying upon her now vacant bed or at the edge of mine. I can still her beautiful bark and her chocolate brown eyes filled with love.

I hope to cherish these memories forever and to never let them go…