What you see at the top is an old analog photo I shot when I was very young. This was our family dog Corry and I loved her so much. She brought me a lot of joy when I was young. When I was sad, she noticed it and cheered me up. When I was happy, she noticed it and asked me to play with her. I liked to go for a walk with her, spend a lot of time playing with her outside. She was also the reason I met a girl. That Polish girl was beautiful and in secret, I had a crush on her. But honestly, I also thought she would be a bit conceited. I was way too shy to start talking with her because I thought she could reject me. But she had a shepherd dog, and one day when I was walking my dog, we met each other on the way and started to talk about our dogs.

We met a second time per coincidence, a third time, and then we actually started to arrange the times with the dogs. Soon I started to think that she wasn’t conceited but shy as I was. We became best friends but then fell in love. We’ve been outside a lot, always doing something with the dogs. It has been a fun time. When Corry died, it did hurt a lot. At some point, my mother and I knew she was ill, and the vet told us that she might not live long anymore. One evening I was lying on the couch, and Corry came to me, she has always done that. But this time it was different. It was like she felt what would happen the next day, it was like a farewell.

She didn’t want to be alone, she fell asleep on my stomach with her head on my chest very close to my neck. The next day, she didn’t look good and we had to visit the vet again. She was put to sleep. I cried the whole day even if I already turned 18 around that time. But now I cried like a little kid. I didn’t want to speak with anyone anymore that day. At home, my way to deal with it was to lock my room door, crying and sleeping the whole day. I just didn’t want anyone to see me, in this devastating state, not even my mother.  The next day it was better and I told myself that she had a very long and good life. But it still took some time to get over this loss.

One or two years before she died, we got Billy, our second dog.  He moved in because it was the dog of my mother’s new boyfriend at that time (now husband). I liked the dog too, he helped me to get over the death of Corry, although I felt like he battled with it too. Both dogs didn’t know each other for long, but they definitely became best friends. I think he couldn’t comprehend either why she didn’t come home again. When I got my first own apartment, some years after that, I also got my cat Shyna. Even if she’s a cat and not a dog, she has a lot in common with Corry, including behavior, body language, and facial expressions.

I am neither religious nor very superstitious but sometimes I really thought I got her for a reason. She always appeared like a soul mate of Corry. Since I like her as much, and since she helped me a lot during really bad times, it’ll hurt as much if she one day has to go. But it probably just describes that we don’t see them as just pets but like family members and true friends. Even if my cat is already getting old, she still makes a fit impression. So, fingers crossed, I hope she will be with me quite a few more years.