Name 1

Your Name

Trotter

British Literature (2)

28 August 2018

A Realization of Appreciation

School had just begun, I was peacefully doing my calculus homework as I looked to my

side to see my beloved dog come into my room and sit down next to my chair. I came to a

realization as I gazed down at him, he was aging, the once young energetic Zephyr was now

struggling with lymphoma. I had always loved him, I told myself that I was going to make the

most of his last days as I felt that this year would be his last. It is always easier said than done

though, as I was not truly believing myself and the words I was thinking.

I woke up Sunday September 10th, 2017, just a few short weeks after I realized that

Zephyr was no longer what he used to be. I went to the kitchen and expected to be greeted by my

dog and see breakfast that my dad always makes me on the weekend mornings. Instead, I saw

my dog laying on the ground as he lifted his head to see that I was there. My parents looked at

me and I could tell something was wrong. They explained to me that Zephyr could barely get up

at 7 o’clock and he could not go to the bathroom. My first thought was we’ll take him to the

veterinarian and he will recover, but then my mom took me to my room and told me that we need

to make the most of last hours. She told me that he was not going to make it through the night,

that the cancer was in full force and he can’t even move. She looked me in the eyes and told me

that we were going to have to put him down, so that he can stop suffering. It wasn’t clear to me

that this problem could not be solved.

 Name 2

With tears running down my face I ran to my neighbor’s house. Gerry opened the door

and immediately knew something awful had happened. As I struggled to form words she held me

close as I cried into her arms. She informed me that I need to go with my parents to the

veterinarian office and witness his final moments. Gerry and her husband Larry calmed me down

and helped encourage me to do something I will never regret.

The time had come, my dad and I carried him into the light blue car and we drove to the

office he had been going to for his treatment for the past year. He loved car rides, and I will

always remember that last ride, petting him as he looked up to me with contagious happiness.

We arrived to the office and the assistants helped load him onto a stretcher and took him to a

room where they placed a catheter in his leg. The doctor came into the room and explained what

exactly was going to happen. As tears fled down my face, I pet him the entire minute it took.

Lastly, the doctor reached for his stethoscope and confirmed that the heart had stopped. I hugged

him for the last time before we loaded him back into the car.

When we arrived back home, I put on a gray t shirt and grey shorts and took a shovel

from the garage. My dad was already down at the base of my yard where he had begun digging. I

was covered in dirt by the time we finished digging the hole. We went back up to the car and

carried him down to where his body would lay for eternity. When we finally finished, I fell to the

ground and couldn’t believe what all had happened in just a single day. I headed back up to the

house to shower after my parents had already left. As I put clean clothes on, I heard my dad

crying in the living room. It was only the second time I had ever witnessed it in my life and that

will only make the memory stronger.

 Name 3

I have yet to show any signs of moving forward in any way. My parents purchased a new

dog only a month after, it may have taken my mind off of the passing of Zephyr, but it hardly

helped. I sat in my room that night, I had school the next day and decided that I was not going to

make the effort to do homework. I had never done that before, but I spent my time gazing into

the sky thinking about all the times we shared. As I promised myself to make the most of his last

days before, and I knew then that I succeeded and made the most of it. I knew in my heart that I

needed to take this mindset further into my life. I then promised myself to make the most of

every moment in my life, good or bad, appreciate everything because no one ever knows what

they truly had until it was gone. I lived my childhood with little appreciation for Zephyr, I took

him for granted, but I will never forget what I had and lost on that day, Sunday September 10th,

2017.