How much joy a pet can really bring..

I have a friend whom recently had her pet fish die and her dog Ozzy got attacked by a pitbull. I don't know about you but when something happens to my pets I get scared like someone else would over a family member. Her story kind of got me thinking about all the pets that I had and I thought which better way to help me remember them than to write about them into an entry of my blog.

When I was real little, too young to rememeber we had a Golden Retriever Part Lab named Josh. My parents gave him away because he was too rough with us and we weren't ready for a big dog. When we gotten to the age where we could get a pet we had gotten a hamster.. We named it Lucky. We had her for a couple months and she loved to be held.. come to think of it. She never once had bitten us out of anger. My brothers and I would sit around in a circle in the middle of the living room with our legs spread and feet spread over to the person that was on the side of us so it could be like a fence (like a star shaped yard) and have the hamster in the middle to see what she would do (it was like a huge human cage for her). Well one day we got home from church we went to go see lucky and she wasn't in the cage.. She had gotten out. We looked everywhere for lucky then we heard scratching in the wall between the living room and the kitchen. We knew it was her.. and we would spend hours trying to get her out then like 3 days later one night we were getting really scared.. THAT HAMSTER HAD TO COME OUT.. Well we took food and placed it by the small crack underneath the cupboard where Lucky had gone through and we were all calling her name then out comes this hamster with dust all in her eyes and everything. We took her to the vet the next morning gave it some meds and one morning she was really sick.. We all gathered around my mom as she was holding her and we all watched Lucky take her last breath.. I cried my eyes out at school. I was only in the first grade.. It totally sucked! We eventually got another hamster named Teddy.. But he wasn't special like lucky.. he was just a regular hamster.. don't really member him much.

When I turned 8 years old.. My parents got me this miniature aquarium and loaded it with fish for my birthday present. I had several Tetras, a couple Goldfish, and a Japanese Flying Dojo.. And to be honest.. I didn't care naming the other fish but the Japanese Flying Dojo.. I named Zack after Zack Morris on Saved By the Bell (trust me.. I thought that show was da bomb and thought Zack was awesome.. so please don't think of me as a tool LOL).. He was my buddy... I had him for 5 years!!! Well a couple of the tetras began to die just a few weeks after and we thought maybe we need a bigger aquarium and we got one and the fish stopped dying so all they really need was more room to swim. I would have the fish in my room and every night I would say good night to Zack when I went to bed. I did this for until Zack had died.

I went away for a week for Scout Camp. The second to the last night I was there I had a dream that Zack had jumped out of the aquarium and he was dead. I immediately woke up at of fear and my friend whom I was sharing the tent with looked at me funny and said.. "dude, you were making some pretty funny noises and you kept on saying the name Zack.. WHAT'S UP??) I told him.. And he goes.. "Oh you're pet fish, yeah I thought you meant a guy but that's cool you dream of your pets". Well I talked to myself into going back to sleep and that it was just a dream. Well, when it was time for us to go back home my mom was at the church waiting to pick me up.. She greeted me and gave me a hug, and we talked about the fun I had.. Then I asked her.. "So, How is Zack doing?" her reply was very hesitent and subtle and she said in a calming voice, "Tony, Zack had jumped out of the aquarium and died, I am so sorry!!!"
I then told her that I knew he was dead and told her the dream I had.. She said that is the exact same time he jumped out.. Then she kind of told me her thought that it was Zack coming to me in spirit to let me know that he had passed on.We had the remainder of the fish but I didn't care for them.. They weren't special like Zack was.. so we had them in my little brother's room. A couple years later we got Oliver.. Our Portuguese Water Dog..

He was so fun to play with but everytime we would try to play with him my dad would lock him inside of his office and kind of keep him away from us.. Then my dad trained Oliver to "sick us" on command for punishment or whatever.. Like I would just be petting Oliver then my dad would say "Tony.. WATCH IIIIIIIT" Then Oliver would begin to show his teeth and get me all scared.. To be honest I was being a jerk right back.. When my parents would be out and about going shopping and running errands. I'd be home chasing Oliver with the vaccum just to show I wasn't going to let him get away with being a jerk then after he would come up to me so I can pet him I'd hit him with pillows.. 2 years after having Oliver we wanted a girl dog.. So we got another Portugues Water Dog and named her baily.


She is a very sweet and a very good dog. When my parents got divorced Oliver went with my dad and Baily went with us and my mom. Well Oliver died at 9 years old just 2 years ago and I miss him a ton.. Even though baily is turning 8 this year she still seems very young. She loves to play fetch, she is very affectionate.. and she knows when you're upset.When my mom got married to John she moved in with him into his condo last June.. I stayed in my mom's old house helping to get ready to put on the market and Baily stayed with me. I'd take her over to my dad's house for holidays etc and you know what.. my dad tried taking a bone from Baily and son of a bitch.. Baily snapped at him.. I couldn't believe it.. I never saw anything like it.. I was worried and excited at the same time.. (worried because I never seen her do that before, excited to see my dad to get pay back for Oliver being mean to me). I went up to Baily and I said " BAILY DROP IT", and she did.. then I praised her and she picked up the bone and I knelt down and I calmly took it away from her.. WITHOUT HER SNAPPING AT ME.

I moved to a house that doesn't allow pets so Baily stays with mom and John. I go over there to see her once a week or more just so we can keep in touch.. Come on.. We've been roommates almost for 9 years I think its right for me to go see her to show I didn't forget about her LOL. Well she is getting grey, becoming an ol' maid, but she stiill acts like a puppy and its nice seeing her (also nice not having to worry about her too LOL). Well I guess pets light up your life a bit.. Just something to help keep you occupied from watching a ton of TV or being on the computer for too long. It always brings a smile to my face when I think of Baily snapping at my dad when he was trying to take the bone away from her at his house on Christmas. LOL

If you have any pets then you'd know what I am talking about the joy they bring

Don't you find it funny how fast we grow up??

When I was younger I would hop on my bike and disappear for a whole day.. I would go to the corner store and get some chips and a coke and then ride over to the creek and do some fishing and just didn't have any real responsibilities other than putting the chain back on the gears when it popped off, my chores, or going home for dinner. I never would of thought just over a few years things can drastically change. I had gotten a job while I was in high school as a dishwasher at a Chinese Restaurant and saved enough money to buy a 1991 Geo Prizm (I had a 1971 Ford Galaxy 500, a 2000 Honda Civic, and I currently have a 2004 Saturn, so let's make that clear) that my dad had bought for my brother Adam that he can use when he got back from his mission until he could afford a more reliable one... and to be honest, I drove that car like there was no tomorrow.. I even slept in it the first night of having it.. Well I made a habit of doing that every time I get a car LOL.. I just miss lying in the grass looking up in the sky; imagining them what they are by the way they were shaped (I KNOW WE ALL HAVE DONE THAT), the riding on bikes with my friends and just living life.. To be perfectly honest.. Life was very easy being a kid than it is as an adult.

Time is a funny thing.. it changes a lot no matter what. It can make your friends become your enemies, your enemies become your friends, a lady friend becomes your wife, and you become a husband to a friend. It can go really slow but to be honest it was almost at a stand still growing up. As you get older you will realize that time moves faster and faster and before you know it you're a grown up. Seems like just yesterday I was standing in line tellin g jokes or trading baseball cards in the lunch line with my friends in elementary schoool.

As we get older more and more responsible we become. We have cell phones, jobs/careers that are time consuming, we are paying rent and living with strangers as roommates, we are getting our own groceries and cooking for ourselves and our dates.. We are becoming our parents.. Without the having kids part (unless you're already married with kids, then sorry to say you are parents).

Growing up is a wonderful thing and an excellent learning experience but no one had warned me it was going to come; and at the same time.. Its kind of scary how it sneaks up behind you and fills your soul with responsibilities and worries. Like getting laid off because of the economy being the way it is, having annual evaluations at your work which makes you wonder if you are just doing enough to get by, that you're going the extra mile, or you're just flat out lazy.. When I was younger I wanted to be many things but reality of it is that to be those things takes a lot of hardwork and effort. Like when my brothers and I would play cops and robbers I was always playing it safe and being the Chinese Railroad Worker.. Or when we played capture the flag I was the decoy.. the enemy would run after me as my teammate can run over and get the flag. Its just weird how you automatically stop doing all these many things without doing them one last time (or even going back doing those things).

It could be while my patients are sleeping at night my mind just goes 1 million miles per hour and think of weird things about myself or other stuff in general. I guess I am doing this to give people warning that when you get older you grow out of things that seemed like a blast and you pick up some things that don't seem as much fun like going to college, moving out of your parent's house, working, getting things done for your car so you can just keep it running instead of getting the latest stereo system or the loudest subs put in. Or I am doing it so you don't make fun of me if I go back doing these things ;-). Its just so different now compared when we are younger.. it blows me away when I look how time has changed things.

Time can be your best friend or your enemy. I guess all you can do is for let time to go by to see what happens.