It was one of the colder days of fall, and I was outside of Birch Tree preschool during recess. I was intently bouncing up and down on the seesaw with one of my friends, my little legs trying as hard as they could to get off the ground. We had just gotten finished with a tough day of cutting, pasting, sticking and glitter-gluing. I then heard my teacher’s voice calling us to the side of the building to be picked up. Her voice was one of those stereotypical grandma voices that had once smoked but recently quit. The kind that is high and raspy that you can pick out of a crowd. It was a kind and reliable voice, however, and we all knew to pay attention when she spoke.

My mom had been talking about getting a dog for a while. She always used to look at rescue dogs online and show us the ones she would consider adopting. She would show us pictures of all different breeds of dogs from bulldogs to Chihuahuas. We went to go visit a dog shelter a few months before. I had been told that we were looking at a dog from Kentucky, so I was surprised when we arrived in Kentucky after about an hour and a half. Little did I know that I wasn’t actually in Kentucky. I wasn’t really able to focus on just one dog because I had to go and see all of them. I had always been an animal lover. Dogs were always my favorite because my grandma had two old greyhounds and my aunt had a wiener dog that I always used to play with when I went over their houses.
I watched as one by one the kids got picked up, meanwhile talking with my friend about the Power Rangers and how cool our Halloween costumes were. I had gone as the blue Power Ranger, and he went as the red one. I had recently gotten a Power Rangers cell phone, which we used to make phone calls and take pictures of things at recess. When I finally heard my teacher’s voice call my name, I grabbed my Power Rangers lunchbox and headed to the gate.

  I figured it was just a normal day of preschool as I was gathering my belongings for dismissal. I waited by the driveway of the school, which was an old house that they turned into a preschool. My old minivan appeared into view, and out of it came not only my mom, but something else. As soon as I cast my eyes upon it my body filled with joy like somebody had just gotten surprised with a brand new Audi. It was gold, as if touched by King Midas himself. It wagged its tail so fast it looked like a fan on high speed. There was a scar on his nose that resembled Harry Potter’s after he had survived Voldemort. He looked about three years old, healthy, and excited to get out of the car. I sprinted towards him and gave him a big hug, while he did his signature lean that he still does today. What his signature lean is when he gets excited to meet or see somebody, so he puts all of his weight onto your legs. Usually, it will make you stumble backwards. I could already imagine the things we would do together. I wanted to take him on walks, lie with him on his bed. The whole time he was leaning on me, his tail thumped against my side. Each strike of his tail was like a branch from a tree held back and released so it would hit you on your way by. I almost lost my balance from him putting all of his weight on me. He licked me in the face and his breath smelled like fresh dog food, but I didn’t care.

When we finally got home we just had one problem, and that was naming him. We wanted to name him something fun that wasn’t popular at the time. I didn’t have much of a say in it, though. We went a few days without picking a name, asking friends for suggestions. The usual dog names were tossed in the air but we decided to try to be original. Eventually, somebody developed the name Buddy, like Buddy the elf, and it stuck. Buddy became a new member of the family.

Looking back at that moment I didn’t realize how lucky I was to get such an intelligent dog. He was already potty trained when we got him and he would shake your hand if you said paw. I have learned to appreciate that because we recently got a new puppy, and she is going through potty training right now. Her name is Leia, like princess Leia from Star Wars. She is a brown dog of a bunch of different dogs. She has beautiful bright blue eyes that resemble bright blue tropical ocean water. We always have to monitor how she acts to see if she has to use the bathroom. We have trained her to ring a bell near the door when she needs to go to the bathroom. This can be a nuisance, however, because we have to stop whatever we are doing and take her outside. She totally abuses this and rings the bell about once every 10 minutes. He has always been a sweet and loving dog who is never afraid to lick your face and play with you. He has been a huge part of my life and has been there through everything. Buddy is growing older though and it is showing. The fur on his face is turning white like an egg shell. His eyes are getting foggy as if there were pearls inside of them. Also more and more bumps are showing up in his body, almost like cottage cheese. As he is getting older, looking back at this moment makes me miss the days when we first got him.