My parents rescued a dog from the pound befor I was born and named her “Taffy”. She was part collie and golden retriever. When I was born Taffy was very protective of me.We lived on A lake and Taffy would not let me in the water.Every time I would run into the water Taffy would run in after me,pick me up by the diaper and carry me back to shore.My mother said that I got A kick out of that and would run back into the water as soon as Taffy let go.

When I got to be school age,Taffy would walk me to the school bus stop every morning and be there waiting for me when I got off of the bus regardless of the weather(I grew up in Connecticut).One morning befor school I called Taffy in to eat her breakfast when she collapsed on the front steps.I was 14 years old at the time and Taffy was 16 years old.I sat there with her head on my lap in tears untill she passed on.The last thing that Taffy did for me was to lift her head from my lap and “kiss” me with her nose under my chin….then she was gone.I felt as though I had just lost my big sister.That was 31 years ago and still I tear up when thinking of her.

Michael from OK