In July of 2013, I had to put down my best friend of fifteen years, Shelby. A month after we put Shelby down, my mother got me a puppy that we named Lola for my seventeenth birthday. When I got Lola, I vowed that I would be a better furmom to her than I was to Shelby. With Shelby, I had been so caught up with my self that I was not concerned with Shelby in her health; in the back of my mind I had the thought that she would always be around and then one day she wasn't. When Shelby was gone and I did not hear the patter of her feet, the house felt empty.

Lola coming into my life was the best thing that ever happened to me. Many people in my life, found it odd that I could get so attached to a new dog so quickly. They thought that I was replacing her. I could never replace Shelby, but I new that I could do better with Lola. I needed to give Lola what I should have given Shelby; I knew I had to do better this time around.

With Lola I'm a completely different person. I'm happy and ready to do new things. For my sophomore year of college, she came with me. Lola is what I needed in my life. I may look crazy and overly attached to a dog, but she is not just a dog to me. She is my support when no one else is around. When I cannot find the ability to love myself, she gives me unconditional love and shows me that I have things worth living for.

There are weekends when I just take Lola to the beach on my campus and we relax together. I never feel alone when she's around. If I feel sad, I just tap my chest and she cuddles up to me and licks my face. She helps me find myself. We go on walks, lay on hammocks, and watch Netflix together. Out time spent together in the last three years has been amazing.

Her soft fur and her big brown eyes brighten my day when I come home from a long day of classes. She is always there waiting for me with her fluffy tail wagging. We go on our walks and she tries to keep me from doing my homework. When I try and do my work she takes my pens and hides them from me and lays on top of my books. Attention to my school work vanishes when she puts her paws on my chest and her face in mine with a squeaky toy in her mouth; she's always ready to play.

For the past couple of years, it has been me and Lola as a pair; we are never separated. At night when it's silent and dark, all I can hear is her breathing and I rub her head and whisper "You and me against the world, baby girl." These moments are what have gotten me through the toughest of times because no matter what happens in my life, Lola is always there for me just like Shelby was before her.