One day when I was leaving for volleyball practice, all of a sudden my dog, Star, burst
out of the door and ran into the street. We were used to Star running out the door because
she wanted to explore. But today, instead of going to the other side of the street, she stayed
in the middle. We knew this wasn’t good! We tried to get her to come back before a car
came by, but there was no use. Then out of nowhere, a car came rushing past and the lady
ran over my dog.

The lady stopped and said, “Was that your dog? Sorry”.

And the lady drove off! My mom went to get Star from the street, while I fell to the ground
and cried. I went inside to pray that maybe God would let my dog live, but I guess it was her
time to go. My mom put Star in the back of her car so we could take her to get cremated.
I was so sad over losing Star that I didn’t even go to school the next day. Instead, I
went to work with my mom. I had a little toy that was Star’s favorite thing to play with. I held
it in my hands to remind me of her, but it was still really hard. After my mom got off work,
she took me to a few animal shelters to see if I could find a new dog; but there was no luck.
Even though we are not a cat family, we even looked at cats! A few weeks went by and we
hadn’t found a new pet, but I stayed strong. Then one Saturday night my sister-In-Law
texted me a cute picture of this dog someone had found in Riverton. The second I saw the
dog, I fell in love with it. So the next day, we drove to Riverton to pick up my new dog. I had
so many butterflies in my stomach, and I was so excited!!

“I hope he likes me”. I told my mom.

My mom assured me that he would. I was so excited and nervous at the same time
as I thought of how it would be to get my new dog. So I turned on the car radio to pass the
time. We got to Riverton, and I was so nervous to see him the first time. But once I saw the

dog, I knew I wasn’t going to be alone anymore. I named him Ace. We went to the pet store
to get him his own little collar. When we were driving home, Ace cuddled up to me and I was
so touched. When we got back to Casper, we went over to my brother’s house so he and his
wife could see Ace. Later, on our way home,

I said to my mom, “I love Ace.”

She assured me that she loved him too. Originally, my mom had wanted to call Ace “baby
bear”, but I really hadn’t liked that idea. After only having Ace for about 3 months, he was
already playing roughly with my other dog who is named “ Duchess” Duchess is a big dog;
actually, she is an Alaskan Husky.
Now 9 months later, there is another addition to our family: her name is Autumn Sky.
She is a registered Australian Shepherd, and she is very smart. That is one of the things she
has in common with Star. I think of Star every day, but I have my other dogs to ease the
pain. One thing I am glad for is the wonderful memories of Star. She was very easy to train:
we even taught her to balance on a yoga ball. One of her favorite things to do was popping
bubbles that I would blow. It was amazing how high she could jump. Another thing that I
enjoyed doing with her was playing ” keep away”, I would run down the hall and she would
chase after me because I would have her favorite toys in my hand. Star was a full-bred Jack
Russell, and that’s what made her an amazing pet. When I picked her out online, I didn’t
realize that the breeder was eight hours away. So after my parents agreed to let me have
her, I was able to talk my dad into driving eight hours each way to go get her. She was from a town close to Bismarck, North Dakota, It was a long drive, but it was worth it. I remember
so well that the second I had seen Star the first time, she came running right to me. She
wasn’t a big fluff ball but she was shedding all over me when I held her in my arms, she was
so cute. We were a perfect match!! She snuggled in my lap all the way home. She was a
very lovable dog, and I miss her so much. I would recommend the Jack Russell breed of dog
to anyone. She was not only intelligent, fun-loving, loyal, and easy to train, but she was my
best friend and definitely part of our family.