I have recently been struggling emotionally to stay, which is why I haven’t made any posts for a while. My motivation to write tends to decrease when I am depressed. Even though a lot of things have been going on lately, the event that pushed me the hardest was the passing of our dog, Gizmo. It was one month ago today that we lost him. The best way I know how to honor him is to start writing again, making my first post back about the love and joy he gave my family and myself. We met Gizmo 13 years ago, where he went by the name Heath at our local humane society. He was already two years old when we met him, so he lived to be fifteen years old. My mom told me the story about how she and my dad had walked into the animal shelter one day and, immediately upon seeing him laying on the concrete floor, said to my dad, “No, we can take him home.” That same day, my parents had all us kids come meet Gizmo at the shelter. At the time, we already had a dog named Cameron. The two became fast friends. We realized quickly that Gizmo was very much an observational learner. He didn’t seem to know how big he actually was, since he would lay more in Cameron’s bed than in his own (Cameron was a medium sized dog, while Gizmo a a larger dog). He learned a lot of behaviors from Cameron, including eating frozen peas with his dinner, even though Gizmo didn’t care for them as much as Cameron did. Cameron would also bark and nip at the vacuum. Gizmo eventually became brave enough to bark at the vacuum at a distance. Gizmo was a very unique boy, even though he learned many behaviors from Cameron. He had a particular howl he would do before getting his breakfast and dinner, almost like he was saying thank you for the food. And it was always followed by jumping and excited turns as you walked his bowl over to his feeding spot. He was a very smart boy. I remember he had two identical looking bowls when we first had him. One day, we accidentally put water in his food bowl. He began scratching his paw in the water, which he had never done before. That was his way of telling us that we had switched his bowls. Gizmo loved anyone who walked into our house, especially if they had food or if they would pet his ears in his favorite way. He had this adorable way that he would nudge your leg or your hand to tell you he wanted you to pet him. When my mom and dad had gone to the beach for a week, Gizmo knew I was feeling lonely. He made his way down the wooden steps that he hated, so I wouldn’t be alone. After my dad had his knee surgery, Gizmo never left his side. One day, I decided to get Gizmo a sock monkey toy, even though he never seemed to care much for toys. That sock monkey, however, became his favorite toy, surprising us all. It was the only toy he ever cherished in his time with us and he took precious care of his beloved sock monkey toy. He would carry it up to bed with him every night and bring it downstairs after he ate his dinner, so he could bury it under pillows and blankets to protect it. This was his nightly ritual. Gizmo was one of the most loving and loyal animals I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. One beautiful thing in this life is the love and loyalty of a pet. We should treasure every moment we get with them.