My Dog King

It was early Christmas morning in the year of 1995 when I had received the gift of a lifetime. I remember walking into the living room where the big Christmas tree was lighting up the room with its magical glow. In front of the tree sat a little puppy with a giant red bow around its neck. It looked up at me and that’s when I knew that he was for me, and he was going to become my best friend.

For the whole year I would sit on my grandma's lab every night before I went to sleep, and we would pray that I would receive a dog named King for Christmas this year. We would talk about all the things that King and I would do, and we would sing a song talking about how great of a dog he would be. I begged and begged my mom for a dog all year long, and she always told me no. So when Christmas had come along I really wasn't expecting to get King. I can remember everyone trying to get me to change what I wanted to name him, but I wouldn't. At the time the Disney movie Lion King was my favorite movie, so I wanted to name my puppy after it.

Just as I had pictured King and I had become best friends, and we never left each other’s side. I remember that I would run around the house and he would chase me and grab the end of my night gown and end up biting holes in them. Another thing I remember is when we would go on walks I would say, “Ready, set GO!” and he would start running and we would race to our destination. On the nights that I was sad and upset about something I can remember me laying down on his tummy and just crying my heart out, and somehow it seemed that he knew at that moment that I needed him more than he could ever need me. Around the age of five my parents were going through a divorce and it seemed to me that the only person that was there for me through the whole thing was him. He always knew how to keep me laughing and entertained. Everyone in our apartment complex loved him, all the kids would ask me if they could play fetch with him, or walk him. It really seemed that King wasn’t just my best friend he was becoming everyone’s.  King never ran away, he never bit anyone, and he always listened to me; he honestly was the best dog that anyone could ever ask for. Even though he is gone now, and in a better place I will always remember the happy and magical times that he provided me as a kid. No matter how many dogs I own in my life, King will always be the one and only dog that was truly my best friend and I thank God every day for giving him to me on that early Christmas morning in 1995.