Our home has never been without a dog. I remember being knee-high to a grasshopper, buried in the fur of my best girl, a chocolate lab I “inventively” named
Cocoa. Saturday mornings were spent curled up on the shag carpet, watching
cartoons together. We’d share a bowl of cereal, and play in the backyard once it
warmed up. Cocoa never left my side. She could hold onto both ends of a cob of
corn and nibble just like a human. She snored. She smiled. Cocoa was my best
friend…a very furry, very slobbery best friend.
Cocoa was also my shadow and nothing went unnoticed by her; not a squirrel, not a
whisper. Growing up with Cocoa gave me an unshakeable example of what canine
companionship truly does for a person. Even during her battle with a spine disease,
in which it ultimately won, she was my childhood hero. There was nothing we
Outdoors
couldn’t
accomplish, no mountain we could not climb, so long as we were together.
28 Fall 2016 Adventure