The reason why the picture of the puppy is so important to me, is cause it’s a picture of me and my dog, Tyson. In my family, everyone has had a dog that they’ve had a connection with; I had Tyson, my dad had a Dalmatian named Jack, and my little brother had another Dalmatian named Benny.

We first found Tyson at a rescue service at the Renaissance Festival in 2003; although we didn’t bring him home that day, when we did bring him home, we immediately knew he was there to stay. While he was still a puppy and I was still 3, I tried tossing the Frisbee around with him and that’s when I first felt a connection with him. Although I was fine with Tyson staying with us, my parents were unsure about having a third dog around the house, what with Bronson and Jack already there, but once they saw how sweet and loving he was, they were reassured.

Even though it took a while, it felt like Tyson grew to full size after only a few days and even though he was older than me in dog years, it felt like we grew up and aged alongside each other. After a while, our dogs started to pass away, first was Bronson caught some weird eye infection, and then Jack passed from old age, so Tyson started to get lonely with no dogs around.That’s when we started looking for a new dog, and that’s when we found a sweet Dalmatian that we named Benny, and boy, did Tyson and Benson hit it off.

A couple of months after Benny got here, my little brother came along and made his connection. This was an even better connection for Tyson and I, we both had a brother and we were both older than them, even though Tyson and Benny were pretty much the same age. But like every kid that ever struck the surface of earth, my brother and I were messy. Around when I was 9, Tyson ate some of the clothes I had left around my room. Due to my messiness, my best friend in the world died from the surgical attempt to remove the clothing he ate. From that day forward, I said to myself, “I will never let one of my dogs die from my messes.” I hope to see you again one day Tyson; keep wagging that tail for me till then.