It’s often said that a dog is man’s best friend and diamonds are a girl’s best friend. Dogs are not only man’s best friend, but a girl’s as well. My dog was my best friend and was a huge part of our family.

The day we got Leuk was a very exciting day. The breeder was coming to our house to gives us our new puppy. When she arrived, two puppies jumped out of the back of her car. I couldn’t believe that there were two golden retriever puppies running around my yard and that one of them would soon be mine.

The puppies already had names. They were Humphrey and Arthur. We brought the puppies inside the house to see which one we would think that we might want. I wanted both, but there was no way that was going to happen. As soon as we got into the house, Humphrey ran right into the living room and pooped right on the floor! We were all so shocked, but we laughed anyways. As the visit came to an end, we knew we had to pick only one of the puppies. It was a very tough decision to make, but we ended up picking Arthur. Arthur was a big puppy; he had very, very long legs and big paws.

As a family, we decided that we should change his name. Arthur just wasn’t the perfect name for the puppy. It didn’t fit him very well. We ended up changing his name to Leuk. It’s short for Leukemia because at the time we were dealing with Bella’s cancer.

Leuk was the best dog that I have ever had. He went almost everywhere with us. We took him to the races with us, took him for walks, and sometimes we brought him up to camp. He absolutely loved car rides and enjoyed going to the pet store to pick out his own toys.

The hardest part about being a pet owner, is knowing that they don’t live forever. March 23, 2016 was a very sad day. I was sitting in my bedroom at home when I got the text message from dad saying: “I’m so sorry, Leuk has passed away.” I immediately burst into tears and ran out of my room. Paul was in the living room and I told him I had to leave and out the door I ran. I got in my car and started to drive, but I had no clue as to where I was going. It was very hard to drive because I couldn’t control my tears. I called my mom sobbing and begged for this to be a joke. I couldn’t imagine not having my dog around anymore.

I got off the phone and drove up to my boyfriend’s house hoping he’d be outside working on his bike or car, but he wasn’t. I continued driving up to my dad’s house. When I got there, I thought I could go in but knowing that he was not there stopped me from going inside. I couldn’t get myself to go up past the first steps. Then I got a call from my boyfriend and he showed up at the house.

My dad had had told me that he was at Fairmount Animal Hospital and that I should come and say goodbye. I refused to go, but Ryan told me that it would be best and I would regret it if I didn’t say goodbye. We drove over there and I officially lost it. I was crying hysterically at this point. This was one of the hardest goodbyes that I have ever had to say.

A year later and I still miss him dearly. My mom got everyone in our family these little pill shaped containers that held ashes. His ashes now hang in my car so that I know he is always with me.