LECTC WIsOOM Tippy aster the schol bus and rshingto dog Tippy, ran pat me Whats wur ig mys Tete, inmoyed wasn ike waste the hot ee wen When he goto he font dor hebidies ee oft hs woyefutngtn pated eee sa "ss begging for affection, hurdled over hit od fhe wang yl but Nan red at fem umped ou of the by the diver. Thea hough Tippy aah sie baking ne paagaphal Selo areas Saw me come home When ust Ovongh the ean howe wa gut and sti 1 damped mt a ack on the floor. Mom silently appearec 7 sit down at the kitchen table yy "Ppewei She acked mata, rant veal nes hat nfl ou vs morting whe you weve a schol Ree ea {cir and kl He died instantly o he dnt eure 7 aw how much he met foyou. Faso eg NOEs ot rut wasn cock Tenn be ‘Tey, come here Come on boy? Iosif nee iT wat, He dd cane Feclng ot a oe into the living room, He wasnt on the couch se Thess ecurcne wso0M pillow for my head while I watched cartoons. Mom called Ime for dinner and I rambled to my place. He wasn't hid ing under the table, so Thad to ea all of my dinner. went toslep that night but I didnt cry. still couldn't believe that he was gone ‘When T got off the bus the next day, the silence grew deafening, Finally, my sobs bubbled up and erupted like fava froma volcano [felt like I was also going to die from having my insides shaken apart, and I couldn't stop cry ‘ng or end the thoughts that kept going through my head 1 should have tained how beter If had been home, Foul have called heey frome the road, Ti’ even pet him when ef Hew coal 1 re oro that was my lst chance? Tcried nti el hollow inside, ‘My parents bought a new dog named Tinker Belle. 5 didn’t care. Iwas busy giving hate looks to people speed ing in thei cas, They shoul’ drive so fost that they coun’ slop when they so a dog inthe road, My parents still got the silent treatment from me, Why hau? they mate sure that ‘Tippy std up? Yas mad at Tippy for geting killed, and. Twas mad at the entire “dog kingdom” for not knowing enough to stay out ofthe road. Tid share my dinner with our new dog, She was too small to be my pillow for television, and her bark was Squeaky. When she begged for attention, I pushed her away. spent a Jot of time alone, feeling sorry for mysel land wondering, Why dt this have o happen tome? What am T going to do now? Why did Tippy hace to de? Time passed, and against my will I started to under stand some things. I fle like waking up a little ata time. T realized what little control any of us have over what happens toa dog, Sure, wecan tran them and te them up and do everything right, but bad things can sil happen. ‘And, in spite of us, ood things can happen too. Tha’ life The best way to deal with the hard times isto figure outwhat I need to do for myself to get through them when they come, and to remember that hard times pass, also discovered that my capacity to love didn't die with Tippy. I became awflly lonely when Twas trying i harden my heart. [began to realize that there were good things about Tinker Belle that were different from the good things about Tippy. l couldn’ rest my head on he Tittle body, or pretend to ride Tinker Belle the way I had done with Tippy, but could fit Tinker Belle into my back: pack and carry her around Tleamed that I need to pet my dog whenever I can— to really enjoy my time with hee! Now I pet my dog Jovly when [have the chance and quickly when 'm ina hhurty, but [never leave the house without petting her, Tow deeply understand the ‘Circe of Life” Bveryone js born, everyone dies, and that’s the way itis. If dogs ald be no room for others like Tinker five cute puppies! of al Irealize that Tippy lft behind all of my good memories of him. And they come to me every time I call Armstrong