Max

I’ve only had one pet in my entire life, and that is my cocker spaniel, Max. Now just to let you know, Max is dead. He’s been dead for about seven years. I had Max when I was between the age of four and eleven, and I have never wanted another dog after Max. He was my first dog and I’m fine with him being my last.

I remember the first day my older cousin brought Max to my house. My cousin Adriana was about twenty at the time, she stood about 5’6, a business major in college with tattoos crawling up her left arm up into her back. This girl has been an amazing part of my life, and she gave me one of the best things that you could ever give a kid, yes even better then proof that Santa Clause exists (which I recieved), my first dog. Her and her, now husband, had two cocker spaniel breed dogs, one named Penny and the other named Coby. At the time I thought that Coby and Penny were in love and married and that’s why they had puppies. One of those puppies was my soon to be Max.

Adrianna got out of the car with a basket full of four ecstatic blonde puppies. Three girls and one boy. My parents told me that I chose Max because he was a boy and apparently I said, “Guys need to stick together.” Adrianna says that I chose Max because when I peaked into the old laundry basket max jumped up licked my face, so of course, I wanted the puppy that had the audacity to lick me. Adrianna stuck around for a while to talk with my parents, but she had other stops to make, so she said her goodbyes and told me to have fun with my new best friend.

I don’t remember that day too clearly but my whole family says that I didn’t even want to eat that day unless it was dog food like Max. I spent all day with him, we were inseparable. I still have this picture of me and him that first day. We were both on the floor under a blanket, I wore an orange Sponge Bob Squarepants t-shirt and we both had passed out after a day of nonstop playtime. It’s probably my favorite picture of all time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not really an animal person, but it was different with Max. He wasn’t a dog to me, he was my closest friend. With him, I was an animal person. Maybe I just liked that I could tell him anything, as weird as that sounds. Or maybe I liked that even if he would leave, he would come back. His loyalty was greater than some of my family members. Even as a small child I understood that.