Best Furry Friend

I’m going to be talking about someone who I consider to be my best friend in the world. Ruby, I’m sorry, I love you to death and you are my best friend, and my twin, but I think we both know Izzy is the greatest thing to ever happen to us.

All our childhood Ruby and I desperately wanted was a dog, as all children do. When we were in second grade we were finally gifted with………..

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………….wait for it…………….

a turtle. A turtle we named Dribble. Dribble rocked and was one hell of a turtle, but I would be lying if I said we weren’t disappointed. Our dad was allergic to anything with fur, and I had allergies, so we had to settle for an amphibian. After Dribble ran (yes, ran) away we were back to our dog obsession. My mom and dad started to do research and found out there’s a type of dog called “hypo-allergenic” dogs, or dogs with hair instead of fur. To our surprise, It turns out while my mother, sister and I were on vacation, our dad called a breeder who had just had a litter of scotties. She was a jet black Scottish Terrier, the only girl in a liter of five. Our dream was finally coming true, we were getting a dog.

While waiting for our dog to be big enough for us to take her home ( “big” being used lightly, she was the size of a Webkinz when we got her) we started to decide on names. She was given the name Miley at birth, after the acclaimed super star of the moment, Miley Cyrus. And although Ruby and I were avid Hannah Montana fans, none of us were in love with the name. Since she was a Scottish Terrier, we thought it was only fitting to give her a Scottish name. So she could remember her roots, even though her roots were really Laguna Hills. After narrowing down the names we were left with Fiona “FiFi” or “Fi” and Isobel “Izzy” or “Iz.” The females of the family were on the side of FiFi but my dad refused. He was disgusted by the idea of taking her on walks and when people ask what her name was he would have to say “FiFi” or “Fi.” We understood, and Izzy came home a few weeks later. Izzy and my dad were in love. He never explicitly said it, but the fact that she followed him around and was always by his side told us all we needed to know. There were times we felt like he loved her more than us (understandable.) Our dad had a lazy boy chair in the living room and Izzy and him would sit on it while he read almost every night. After he died, Izzy took the chair for herself. Everyday she sat on the chair. She knew. She’s smart, she’s tough, and she knew we needed her even more. Sleeping with us at night and showering us with kisses in the morning. She would cuddle with us and watch TV with us. Since getting our second dog, Lulu, Izzy now shares the chair with her. Lulu never met our dad, so the chair is nothing but a way to look out the window to see when our mom is coming home, but to all of us ( including Izzy) it means a lot more. Izzy is literally my best friend, and she’s a dog. She’s a dog. And I love her more than most humans. She and my dad had such a strong bond, when I miss him she let’s me squeeze her and someone how gives me some sort of feeling of my dad. Which sounds crazy, I know. I don’t have a lot left of my dad’s, clothes were all given to his friends, memories are scarce, but I do have Izzy and just trust me, this dog is fucking great.