Sophie

At the end of 7th grade my Dad's job relocated our family to a different state. Our new home would be in Tulsa, Oklahoma and lets just say we were not jumping for joy when we heard this news. All of our relatives live mostly in New Jersey and Florida so when our move arrived we felt so disconnected and realized we didn't really have anyone else but each other. We did however become close friends with one of my Dad's co-worker and his family who happened to live right next door to us in our new neighborhood.

Me, my mom and brother all have birthdays in January so our friends decided to surprise us with a present we would all love and never forget. They bought us a puppy who we named Sophie. She was a black lab with white paws and when we first got her she wore a red bow around her neck. She fit in perfectly with my family and we fell in love with her the second we saw her. Sophie was able to boost the spirits of our 13 year old dog that we currently had; we swear she added another year or two of happiness to her life.

A year later my family moved back to sunny Florida. When people would asked how we liked Oklahoma we'd joke and tell them "it wasn't as bad as you would think, we only moved out there to get our new puppy!".

Everyone in my family had a special bond with Sophie which is why it was so hard for us when we learned that at 5 years old she had developed a cancerous tumor. She struggled to fight it off for weeks but was not able to pull through this battle. My family and I are very close to each other but we believe she helped bring us closer. Losing her was one of the hardest things I've ever been through.

2 years later, thinking about Soph still makes me sad inside. But I'm reminded of all of our happy memories whenever I go back home to Fort Lauderdale because of a recent new addition to our family.

This summer my boyfriend and I rescued a 7 month old lab mix. Louie, too, is black with white paws and has an identical personality to our Sophie. My family jokes that he is Sophie reincarnated. Although Sophie was only able to enjoy a few years of her life, we have now been given the opportunity to raise another puppy so similar to her. She'll always be with us... now maybe more than we had thought ;)