I was sitting side by side with my sister, both with tears running down our face like a river. I get the overwhelming taste of the salty water coming from my eyes, as my dog lays on my lap, and in a blink of an eye, is gone. She was the sweetest thing in the world with hershey brown eyes and a blonde shiny coat. Her fluffy white paws were intriguing to touch, but she always hated when people did that. Roxi lived to be sixteen years old, and was my best friend growing up. This little dog, just about one and a half feet tall, would always create smiles throughout the room. Her wet nose to her stubbed tail was full of love. I had to take my best friend to Temperance Animal hospital, the gloomiest place in the world. Since I walked in with her clutched in my arms, and walked out empty handed with tears streaming down my face. Their rooms were small with a metal tray to put animals on, almost like a jail cell for pets. The smell consisted of animal fur and dog breath. In the room was a brown bench to the left where my best friend rose up to heaven. I will never feel so much sorrow than the day December 28th, 2019.

I remember it being a rainy day outside, where the rain matched how I felt, gray and hopeless. It felt as if the world was ending, and honestly, part of my world did. My mother has pictures of Roxi’s head cuddling next to me as a newborn baby, protecting me as if I was her own. When I was old enough to walk, I would laugh and laugh when my mom tried to dress her up.

When I was at the age where I could finally ride a bike by myself, I was able to take her for short walks around my circle. Walks, playing ball, and eating were her favorite things to do. It couldn't be any ball, it had to be her small dark green ball with red and white Santa faces bulging out the sides. Throughout my life, I always had someone to hangout with, mostly my sister and my dog. She was such a good sport about everything, and my favorite memory was her going through the McDonald's drive-thru to get nuggets. She was so excited and almost jumped out the window trying to get inside the restaurant, our family laughed for hours about it. 

There are millions of great memories associated with a living human being or animal, until their life has to come to an end. On the dreary day in December, we had to put my bestfriend down since her hips didn't move as swiftly, and she was getting too old. As her soft fur lay on my lap, I sobbed knowing I will never see her again.We sat down in the vet room with a syringe laying on the medical table. As the doctor inserted it through her left leg, heartbeats full of love and kindness slowly faded. At that moment, my heart was racing in fear of losing my friend. My parents were right next to me, trying to calm down the room. All of a sudden, the vet had a tear roll down her face, as sorrow swept through her body. We said our last goodbyes and in seconds, she was rising up to heaven.

When we got home, my beautiful mother with blonde, pin-straight hair tried to comfort us. With her big brown eyes, and a hug that felt like no other. She whispered, “Everything is going to be okay, you will meet Roxi again someday”. She then went to the dollar store and bought me and my sister a pink balloon to write a message to my dog, and I even remember taping a treat to it. As the helium filled balloon rises slowly in the air, so do all of my wishes for Roxi to have a good life in heaven. Months later, my father bought statues that represented my dogs. They are a smooth gray stone, and about a foot tall. These statues overlook our house and pool, almost as if they are watching over our family. 

Every memory was now in the past with her, and she made such an impact on my life growing up. The feeling of always having someone at my side, and to greet me when I came home and woke up had to eventually fade. Today, I look up in the sky and I always wonder what she is up to. Death of a loved one is the hardest thing for a human being to go through, but it is a factor of life everybody has to face. I have learned the lessons of love from Roxi, to spend as much time with loved ones as you can, you never know if it will be the last time you see them.