Coming home from day care and finding out my parents got a puppy was one of the best days of my life. I can still remember it clear to this day when my parents told me the amazing news.
On Sept. 30, 2003, I was picked up from day care by my mom which was strange since my dad would always picked me up.
I asked my mom, “why didn’t dad pick me up?”
“He was stuck in traffic,” my mom said.
Little did I know there was a puppy waiting for my sister and me.
When I got home, I saw the cutest Cairn Terrier puppy in my dad’s arms. My parents told me I cried tears of happiness since I was begging and asking for a dog for a while.
Naming him was the trickiest part. I wanted to name him Toto since he reminded me of the dog from “Wizard of Oz.” Unfortunately, my name didn’t win. We ended up naming him Buster.
A year after we had him, he accidentally bit my lip and I had to get stitches. I blamed it on my running into a table, due to my fear my parents were going to get rid of him. My parents knew I was lying, but they saw how much Buster meant to me.
We dressed him up for Halloween of 2004 in a Harley Davidson jacket. Buster was not a fan at all of the costume. My family and I learned our lesson after that Halloween to never dress him up.
The 14 years we had him, he became so much to my family. He would always be there to lay with me if I was upset or about to take a nap on the couch.
On Jul. 25, 2017, we lost a part of our family. Losing Buster, to me, was one of the worst things ever. He grew up with my sister and I during those 14 years.
It was the summer of going into my freshman year of college when we lost him. Seeing my family upset was the absolute worst since he was a major part in all of our lives.
Going through the grieving and the mourning process was tough. I felt that I took the time I had with him growing up for granted.
The loss affected my family deeply and it felt like we all fell out of sync with routines and normal day activities.
My mom felt lost during it since she would always feed him in the mornings before work and when she woke up on the weekends.
It felt so unusual not having Buster jump on my bed every morning to wake me up. My dad wasn’t able to take naps due to the fact that Buster would always be there to take naps with them.
When I came home from school one weekend, the house felt so empty. There was no one to greet you like a dog does when they haven’t seen you for a while. I didn’t like going home for a while since it felt all so different.
When my dad told me that we were getting another dog, I was a little hurt since it was not even two weeks since we lost Buster. He got the same breed, Cairn Terrier, but a different color than Buster who was a wheaten color.
Even though our family has a new dog and same breed, it will never feel the same since our new dog is nothing like Buster.
Buster will always be a part of our family. No matter what.
