My dog, Princess

When I was in fourth and fifth grade, I decided that I wanted a dog badly. Whenever I babysat my brothers at night, I would write a note for my parents before going to bed about our night and how I wanted a dog. I promised that it would not poop in the grass in the backyard, and that if it even considered doing such a thing, I would shovel it up almost instantly.  I just envisioned how much fun it would be for me to have a dog. At that time, I really wanted to be a mother, and to me, a dog was the next best thing, and the only option for that point in my life. On Christmas during fifth grade, I received a golden retriever puppy named Princess. I loved Princess, but after I went to college, she was getting to be so old that she couldn’t stay outside overnight, and had to be brought in each night in order to keep her warm and away from the elements of an Idaho winter.

On the day of the accident, Princess's health was getting so bad that she couldn't walk on her own, and couldn't lift her hind legs. We knew that she had cancer, and that it was only a matter of time before we would have to put her to sleep. When she couldn't climb into the suburban without help, we determined that it was time to put her to sleep and went to the Veterinarian's office in Idaho Falls to do so. We all cried while putting her to sleep, and saw that it was a huge blessing that I was in town to participate instead of having the family do it while I was in college.