Angel

My POV (point of view)

When I was 6 my grandparents got a dog. Her name was Angel and me and my brother loved her to death. She was a blonde golden retriever lab mix and just the sweetest thing ever. There was almost never a time her tail wasn't wagging. Me and my brother would always be all of her, petting her, sleeping with her, playing with her, everything. She was a stereotypical dog, she loved car rides, was like a little dumb, loved having attention on her. But unfortunately a couple years later we learned that Angel had cancer and had to be put down, which broke mine and my brothers' heart.

Angel had been significantly less hyper and less "Oh my god play?! Can we play?!" you know? My grandparents noticed this but thought she was just getting old. When Angel didn't eat is when they started to get worried and took her to the vet. Angel had always had this weird, darker, softer patch of fur on her right ear but we thought "Aww it just makes her different" but it turns out it was a tumor... That little patch wasn't that cute anymore. The entire time this was happening me and my family had moved here, to Arizona from Mississippi where Angel and my grandparents were, so we couldn't be with Angel which hurt us even more.

Our laptop started ringing which meant we were getting a Skype call. Me and my brother checked who it was from, then answered when we saw it was my grandma. "HELLO?!" She said loudly in her southern accent. "Hey Mawmaw." me and brother said waving at the camera. "How are y'all doing? Are you settling in okay?" She asked. "Yeah we're good and we're all moved in." My brother answered, smiling. "Where's your mama and daddy?" She asked. "Oh they're just at work. They'll be back in a couple hours." I answered. "They got jobs already?! Well good for them!" Mawmaw said smiling. "Yeah so we're pretty much set." My brother said. "Ask how Angel is." I said to my brother. "I think she heard you, dork." My brother teased "But yeah how's Angel doing?" He asked anyway. "She's... Not doing good..." Mawmaw said sadly. Me and my brother sighed "Yeah we figured..." we said glancing at each other. "Well I'll let y'all go do what you do. I love ya and I'll call y'all soon." She said. "Alright bye." My brother said "we love you too" I added before hanging up. I sighed and went to my room. 2 days later Mawmaw Skyped us again and we answered "Hey Mawmaw." We said smiling. "Hey darlin'" She said smiling back "Howdy howdy." My grandpa chimed in. "Oh hey Big Daddy." I said waving. "We need to talk to y'all about Angel." Mawmaw said looking sad. "Oh no what's wrong?" My brother asked concerned. "We have to put her down." Big daddy said bluntly. "What?!" I cried. "She's in pain." Mawmaw said sadly. I sighed sadly "I know..." I said looking down. "Then we'll take her to the vet tomorrow." Big daddy said. "Alright..." Me and my brother said sadly. "We'll let y'all go now. Bye." They said hanging up. Me and my brother looked at each other with tears in our eyes and went to give each other privacy. *Side note: me and brother aren't twins... or in sync at all.*

The next day, like Big Daddy said, they took her to the vet and had her put down. Me, my brother, and well everyone who knew Angel were devastated. I spent most of my time in my room crying until I had to eat, even then words were short "Hey"s and then straight back to my room. My brother tried to talk to me about and provide comfort, but I wouldn't bite. I'd respond but I wouldn't be invested, at most I'd reply with one or two words. But eventually I did talk more with my brother and my parents and it helped a little bit, but it didn't change that I'd lost my Angel. I guess you could say talking and and time is how I got over it. Well not got over it per se, it's still a painful memory, just now I realize it's not the end of the world.

Overall, I learned that if you're hurting talk to somebody about it. Literally everyone says that but it does help. It doesn't even have to be your parents, it can be your brother, sister, cousin, best friend, counselor, therapist, stranger at a bus stop anyone. Just get it off your chest, if you don't talk to someone that sadness is just gonna build up until you breakdown over something stupid like not having chips or something. Please don't break down over not having chips.

before you ask: yes i really call my grandpa big daddy, yes i have a brother, yes this is true, yes i may have exaggerated my age a tiny bit, and no I'm still not 100% over it