As I write this, you lie here in your old age, wearing your gray coat you well deserve and sleeping, like you tend to do a lot of now. We've spent 14, almost 15 years together now, which means there's only been four and a half years in which you haven't been apart of my life. You were the best part of my childhood and my favorite welcome home from college. You let me chase you around and try to dress you in funny outfits in first grade and took my prom pictures with me in 11th. You gladly ate the parts of my dinner I didn't eat and were always willing to share a midnight snack when I couldn't sleep.

Thank you for always watching the house as we slept and investigating every noise and chasing away all the stray cats. You keep us safe and secure and I sleep better at night knowing that you are here. I hope you can forgive me for the times I ignored your diligent requests to play or the times I was too busy to take you on the long walks you deserved, but if I could go back, I'd make the time you needed and more. I try to make it up to you now by giving you as many treats as you ask for, even though your vet says you don't need them.

No matter how far away from you I might have been, you always came to me when I was upset, as if you just somehow knew I needed a dog to love. You were there through first days of school, emotional high school break-ups, ends of friendships and starts of others, high school graduation, and the hardest goodbye of college. Even though you used to love to get in the trash and run away from me on walks as a puppy, you were worth all the trouble. It makes me feel better knowing I can still come home after months without you and you're still happy to greet me at the door. And although you might not be able to talk, the wagging of your tail and the smile (yes, dogs do smile) on your furry little face show me that you are as happy to see me as I am to see you.

Although you may not be as playful as you once were, your old age has made you as loving and humble as ever. You have taught me so many life lessons in the years we have spent together. You remind me every day that life is too short and the smallest (furriest) lives sometimes have the biggest influence on who we become as a person. You've been my best friend for the longest time and are a part of the family that will never be replaced. And though it's hard to say how much time we have left together, the time we've spent together will stay with me for the rest of my life. I know I will never have a dog as great as you, and that's okay because you'll always be my first, and my only, childhood dog.