One month ago today, on December 4th, I lost my most beloved pet. His name was Cody and he was a Golden Retriever.

Cody had been sick for a while--at first the veterinarian thought he had pneumonia. After the antibiotics didn't help, the x-rays determined that Cody had lung cancer, and the vet said it was up to us how long we wanted him to live. He wouldn't just go on his own. For the sake of Cody, we only kept him alive as long as he wasn't suffering. It would have been selfish to keep him alive any longer if he was only going to suffer.

So, ultimately we had to say goodbye.

When I was in 8th grade, we were assigned to write a poetry book, and one of the poems could be about anything we wanted. I chose to write about Cody.

He runs and plays and eats all day
He is a loyal dog and will never run away
He whines for me every day I come home from school
When I say "Do you want to eat?" he licks his chops and drools
He likes being in the car and going on a ride
He always wants to be where you are and never leave your side
He loves to eat cauliflower and any other food
Sometimes he'll burp really loud and then you'll say "How rude!"
His fur is shiny and looks like honey
He chases his tail and it's really funny
He whines and gets excited when he meets someone new
He's a good dog and he doesn't chew on shoes
Some nights he'll sleep on the couch
When he wakes up he's never a grouch
He likes to play with his dog friend Obie
No other dog will ever replace Cody

Love at first sight.


He knew to ring the bell whenever he needed to go outside.


Sleeping on the register was his favorite during the summer.


Or you know, he'd just sleep wherever.


He was like a little teddy bear when he was little, but he grew up fast.


Cody always wanted food. If we gave him a sack of food, he would have eaten until his stomach exploded.


He helped us raise four different dogs: Reba, Sophie, Howie, and Rocky. He was so good with them.




He even put up with Howie, the crazy one.


Cody was always Rocky's favorite cuddle buddy.


He always wanted to be wherever he could be with a member of the family.


He loved to sneak naps in on our beds.


This is one of my favorite pictures of him from my iPhone. He's looking straight at the lens with his big brown eyes.


I wrote a newspaper article about Cody and Reba for my photojournalism class in high school, and this is one of the shots I got of him begging for a treat.


Reba and Cody were always together when it was time for a nap.They were inseparable.


I started making a scarf, but ran out of yarn, so I made a short one for Cody. Ha ha.


He would just get comfortable however he wanted--obviously.


Cody was the best dog a boy could ever ask for and more. We're going to miss him more than imaginable, but he'll live on in our memories. He truly was a unique dog--one of a kind.

Goodbye, Cody.