when we first met...

I think the most memorable and natural quality of myself as a child was my desire for a dog of my own. Every November as my birthday approached, I begged my parents for a dog. The birthdays would turn up grim as I received another stuffed dog with plastic eyes. Luckily, I was young and my spirit was strong and bright. I played endlessly with these stuffed dogs that served as substitutes for my true desire. I gave these foam-filled animals names and personalities. All these good memories of playing with Duke, Snuggles, Ashley, and the rest of my stuffed friends could never prepare me for the true love and connection I have with my own living, breathing dog.

When I left my family and headed off to college, I knew I would finally be able to make unsupervised decisions. In the summer of 1996, I woke up never knowing my life and perspective would be forever changed. I had been throwing around the idea of getting a dog over the past few months and my ex-boyfriend was always coming up with an excuse to do it a few months later. The newspaper that day of August 7, 1996 revealed the births of chocolate Labrador Retriever puppies. I found a friend to drive to the farm that had advertised the puppies. I was living in Portland, Oregon and August was one of the few months that we saw the sun everyday. It was so warm and the air felt clean. My friend had the top down on his convertible as we drove to the farm. The wind was blowing peacefully through green fields of flowers and grass. After about a 30 minute drive, we arrived at a lush, humble, family farm. A young boy with freckles and huge farm boots, which reached his thighs, greeted us. He was so confident in his speech as he remarked, "You've come to see the puppies right? Ok, well follow me.' We followed him to an old shed with a chicken wire fence. I could see inside there were eight cute, plump, chocolate fur balls running around. I looked over the adorable crew silently as the young puppies whined to be picked up. Sitting in the back there was a small puppy sitting quietly who seemed immune to all the chaos happening around her. She refused to act like the other puppies who were jumping up on the sides of the fence. I picked her up. She was scared and shaking. We sat down on the hay together. She walked in between my legs and sniffed around a bit. She was so shy, but she stayed close to me. I fell in love with her instantly. I left the farm that day not knowing what a true friend I had just bought for $50.