I will never forget. It was a cold Tuesday in early November. I was on my way home from a long day of first grade and I was dreading the Phonics and Addition homework that stood between me and my cartoons. My arrival home was almost a routine since my early childhood, before I could even remember. Every day, I would gather my belongings from the car while my brother sprinted to the house to claim the t.v.. He was always ten steps ahead of me. Every day without fail, my black lab, Mindy, came running out of the house to greet me. She acted as if I had been gone a year each time. Every day, she would run up to me and give me the biggest welcome home hug, give me her favorite toy, and give me the sloppiest of licks. Every day, until that cold November day.
That day, I gathered my book bag and my lunch box and I stood in the driveway anticipating that routine welcome home greeting. The greeting that never came. I stood confused for a minute, wondering what Mindy could possibly be doing that could be coming between our routine. It wasn't until that minute that I realized how much I looked forward to that routine. The excitement and unconditional love she had showed toward me every day; where was it? Worried, I dropped my bags and ran to the house calling her name. If she wasn't running toward me, I would run to her. She was no where to be found.
My mother called my brother and I to the kitchen table where she was sitting. She looked as if she had been crying.
"Where's Mindy?" I asked.
"Mindy is up in a better place, making a lot of little boys and girls happy. I'm sure she's up there now playing fetch and running through big piles of snow, and eating ."
Mindy did love playing in the snow, but why couldn't she just wait until December to play with me in the snow?
My young mind thought about what my mother said. Up in a better place, snow, other little kids...
"Why did Santa steal my dog?!?!" I yelled.
My mother sat startled for a second.
"Well, Santa needed extra help this year because his sleigh is getting too heavy, and he thought Mindy would be the perfect help that he needed. He did promise to give you extra special toys this year for allowing him to Mindy's help."
They better be some good toys, I thought, because nothing could replace my dog..
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