Natasha and Peeky shared so much together over more than a decade.
Photo by Natasha Abadilla
Here’s a beautiful essay from a young woman named Natasha Abadilla, who writes about the important lessons she learned from her best friend of 11 years, Peeky. It’s wonderful that someone who is just starting out in her adult life is reflective enough to understand how she was shaped by having a dog:
He brought out the best in me.
From the very beginning, he was mine, and my 10-year-old self quickly had to learn how to care for another living being. I had to train him, feed him, walk him and make sure he was always taken care of, even when my family and I went on vacation.
Caring for Peeky taught me responsibility and accountability, and my efforts were rewarded with hours and hours of games of catch and peek-a-boo (how Peeky got his name).
Sadly, Peeky is gone now, but he lives on in the person whose life he helped to shape for the better.