Have you ever fallen in love? Not the type of soulmate love, but an innocent love, like with your own child? I don’t have children, but I have always had a special place in my heart for animals. I grew up with pets. Throughout my whole life I had animal companions: dogs, cats, ferrets, fish; you name it, I had it. It wasn’t until I moved out of the house a few years ago that I had lacked that companionship that had never been missing before. My depression and anxiety was hitting sky-high. It was affecting my relationships, classes, and work life. My doctor had me on various medications, but they were only making me more anxious and more depressed.

That’s when I decided to talk to my doctor about getting an ESA, emotional support animal. It had seemed silly at first, but as I did more research and realized that I always had pets in my life until now, it seemed just to make sense. My doctor agreed, and wrote me the ‘prescription’ for an ESA.

Two weeks pass by and I am at the Animal Shelter in Boise. I am looking at all the animals with little feeling (something which was different, considering that I always seem to want to take all the animals home). That’s when I saw her. Just a little ball of fur. Her eyes were green and took up half of her face. I feel in love at that moment. She was supposed to be in my life. I didn’t leave without her.

From that day, December 31, 2015, my life flipped itself. It has been almost a year since I have had my furry baby, and my anxiety and depression have taken leave. She waits for me when I get home, and keeps me company in the evenings and the early mornings. She has traveled with me several times to Boise and to Vancouver, WA, enduring the car rides the whole time. I can’t wait to see what other crazy adventures we have in store. ESA’s are important, because animal companionship is irreplaceable.