Losing Tally

Tally, Taxi, and Cupid

   When I was little, I had always wanted a puppy. All I had, though, was an old, eight-teen year-old mutt who hated me. I was in first grade, so why wouldn’t I want a playful, cute puppy that I could grow up with. That was all I truly wanted. It was winter when I got my first puppy. The only reason I remember that is because my birthday was a few days away.  Mommy was driving me home from school, telling me that there was an early birthday present in my room.  I was so excited guessing what it could be. When we arrived at our house, I rushed inside. The second I opened the front door and heard barking, I knew what it was.

   I excitedly ran to my room and took an eyeful in. There, on my bedroom floor, sat a very excited, adorable puppy. I was so pumped to have a puppy. She would be one that actually liked me, too! My mom, my dad, my siblings, and I spent the rest of the day trying to think of a name for the small border-collie mix. At the time, my favorite movie was The Wild Thornberrys Movie. My mom, taking this into consideration, suggested the name Tally. In the movie, one of the leopard cubs was named Tally, and Mom just thought the name was too cute. Thus, Tally was officially mine.

   Tally wasn’t exactly the best dog in the world. In fact, she was bad. She ate everything in sight, wasn’t exactly potty-trained, and tended to break things. This behavior, along with the fact that she was getting very large, caused drastic measures to be taken. Tally had to become an outside dog. Little by little, Tally continued to grow. Her claws became larger and sharper, she grew heavier, and she became more hyper. Whenever I tried to go outside to play with her, I felt more like I was being attacked than played with. This eventually led my mom to make a very serious decision.

   Four months after we got Tally, my mom made the announcement that we were getting rid of her. I immediately burst into tears. Tally may have scared me, but she was still my dog. I begged my mom to let me keep her. I made all the classic kid promises, like “I swear I’ll play with her more” and “I’ll make sure that she’s always fed”. Mom wouldn’t hear any of it. Apparently she had already given Tally away to another lady with a large backyard and another border collie. The lady was supposed to pick Tally up later that week. I went outside to hug Tally and cried about the loss of my new best friend.

   When the lady came to pick Tally up, I stayed in my bedroom and cried. I officially decided that I was going to stay mad at my mom forever. I was planning on giving her the silent treatment and going on strike. Unfortunately, the best strike I could come up with involved refusing to watch The Wild Thornberrys Movie. My silent treatment plan had also failed by dinner.

  About a year later, just a few weeks after the anniversary of getting Tally I got a new dog, Taxi. This one we kept. Tally had taught me to be a better owner. I didn’t make the same mistakes I made with Tally. I still have Taxi to this day, and even though she’s arrogant, lazy, and misbehaved, I still love her to death. Currently I have two fur-balls, Taxi and Cupid, and I really do love them both.

   It’s ridiculous how many lessons I learned from my adoption, and rejection, of Tally. One thing I learned included the right way to take care of a dog. That’s shown as I still have my two, old cutie-pies still. I also learned that every cloud has silver lining, since had I kept Tally, I wouldn’t have Taxi or Cupid. Also, and most importantly, it taught me how to let go. Not everything in life will always be there. Things change and go wrong all the time. It’s not hard to lose something one loves. While something one cares about it with them, they should cherish it; when something one cares about leaves, all one can do it let it go.