I sat there on the floor, next to my dog who had been struggling with cancer for the past few years. My family and I surrounded my dog on the floor, each of us petting different parts of Baron’s body. I glanced at the clock. The vet would be over in twenty minutes to put my dog to sleep. I felt like I was waiting for the grim reaper.

I reminisced on my childhood with my favorite dog in the world. He had always been there every time I went home. I remember the time my dog jumped out of the second story window just because he saw my mom pulling into the driveway. We coined him the nickname the “Flying Rottweiler” and that is what he was known as around the neighborhood.  I remember walking my dog around and all my neighbors would come up to him because they knew how friendly of a dog he was. When they saw him for the first time, they were intimidated by his bulky appearance but now no one is afraid of him.  I thought of the time we had to amputate his leg because of his cancer and the vet said he would only live up to nine months, but he ended up living for three more years. He was so strong and resilient, I knew it was his time.

I broke down as the vet walked through the front door. The realization that I would not see my dog again after he walked back through that door hit me like a train. I embraced my dog as I knew these would be his last moments in the living world. The vet explained the procedure with Baron. “It will be a very quick and peaceful death. We will inject the sedative into his hind leg and you all can comfort him through this whole process”. I stroked Baron’s head with my hand as the vet injected the needle into his leg. I watched as his eyelids slowly closed and his life exited his body. I was left in shambles. The realization he would never come back sunk in. “His heart has stopped beating now”, the vet explained.  My mother, father, brother and I mourned our loss of someone who was considered a family member.

Almost a month later, I still think of his smiling face and wagging tail every time I enter my house. I am reminded that he will not be growing up with me for the rest of my life. But I am grateful for the time he was here and all the joyful moments he brought me in my childhood. I know he is somewhere in heaven running around with all the other dogs.