Brooklyn

She was different than the other ones. Not only was her coat completely unique compared to all the other puppies in her cage, but she was the first one to figure out she could jump over the others and stand in the food bowl when no one would let her squeeze in. She was smart, she was sassy, and her birthday was the same day as the day Jonny and I started dating. She was the one.

I had gotten the job of Nature Center Director at my summer camp that year and I decided that it would be cool to get a puppy and have the kids help me raise it and train it over the summer. Jonny had come to California with me (even though we had only been dating a few months) and he was there at the shelter to help me pick up my puppy. I told everyone that I would find her a home at the end of the summer but from that first car ride home when she cuddled into my neck, I knew she was mine. We named her Brooklyn.

From the start she knew how to get me. At night, she would whine in her kennel unless I stuck my fingers through the gaps so she could lick them and rest her face on them. I spent every night of those first few weeks with a crick in my arm from the weird angle it was in to keep her calm. We woul bring her out to the grass to go potty and she would roll around and run to us on her short little legs. We got her a red collar that perfectly complimented her black and grey splotches and a shiny tag with her name on it in case she escaped up at camp. Soon it was time for Jonny to go home and time for me to head up to camp. Another counselor had brought some puppies up to camp as well, so Brooklyn spent the summer playing with her friends, licking campers, and unfortunately eating a chicken that strayed into the dog area. By summers end, she was bigger and rowdier, but still completely adorable and absolutely going home with me.

Over the next few months I started going to the local community college and trying to maintain a long distance relationship with the still Texas dwelling Jonny. I don't remember a lot during this time for one reason or another, but I do remember that Brooklyn was a great cuddler when I was sad. She licked my tears during my and Jonny's breakup that lasted a whole 20 hours, and she sat with me with her head in my lap while I talked to him endlessly on the phone.

I moved to Texas in October of that year. My dad brought Brooklyn out to me along with the majority of my belongings and I started my new life as an independent  "adult". Brooklyn got a playmate (Madison) and the dogs and I lived together in my tiny apartment in the bad part of Denton while I tried to figure out what I was going to do with myself.

This was all in 2005. In the last 10 years Brooklyn has been a constant in my life. Just like with a human child, there have been bumps along the way. There was plenty of destroying of property, massive diarrhea explosions, and a hole in an apartment wall (the cost of which is still on my credit report). I wasn't always the best pet mom I could be either. I know that and it rips me apart inside when I think about it. She's also had her fair share of medical issues and 2 major surgeries but like the tough girl she is, she always pulled through.

Brooklyn is an awesomely entertaining dog. We have to put peanut butter on the wall to get her to stay in the tub for a bath otherwise she will streak out of the bathroom and shake water and soap all over the house. She loves to lay on her back in the grass and wiggle back and forth with her tongue hanging out. Her ears stick up at all times and her tail is a deadly weapon. She makes hysterical noises when she yawns and talks on her sleep. She eats her food before the bowl has hit the ground and she polishes off the birthday cake we get her every year in 25 seconds flat. She is goofy, loving, loyal, sassy, stubborn, and one of a kind.

On Wednesday, Brooklyn is going to sleep for the last time. I will hold her as the pain she has been fighting for the last 3 months finally eases. We have spent the last week filling her with tasty treats and feeding her table food for the first time in her life. We got her birthday cake early and celebrated her life this evening. I also took some pictures today while we chilled outside in the beautiful weather.

We will spend the weekend cuddling and kissing her, scratching her favorite spot, and telling her how special she is. Then it will be time to say goodbye. I am utterly heartbroken.

Brooklyn, you will always be my first child, my company when I was lonely, my comforter when I was sad, my goofball that could always bring a smile to my face. You will always be my mine and I will never forget that tiny puppy at the shelter who stood out from the rest.