I had wanted a puppy for as long as I could remember, and when my parents took me to get Gizmo it was the happiest day of my life. I was 8 years old and I showed him off to everyone, he was the smallest puppy I had ever seen, even as he started to get older he was still so small. However small he was though he was always tough, he was with me through 2 moves when I had to leave all my friends he was still there.
To prove he was tough one day Gizmo took off after a school bus that was too close to his house he ended up getting hit, but 3lb little Gizmo survived with only a broken leg. Gizmo was also one of those little dogs who was just mean, but he was so little it was sweet instead of scary, my mom, my sisters and I were the only ones he liked, and even we were only liked part of the time 🙂 He hated mailmen, school bused, UPS trucks and anyone walking in front of the house, but he loved sleeping under his blankets and in warm clothes from the dryer, his favorite foods were cheese and chicken.
The day I left for college 3000 miles away was only hard because I had to leave Gizmo. Gizmo had been there for me through so much and now I was leaving him, I knew my mom would take good care of him but being without him was still hard, when other kids were homesick and ready to leave I didn’t miss anything but Gizmo. One day my junior year my sister called and told me that Gizmo had been put to sleep, his kidneys weren’t working and he was in pain. It was a shock to me, I knew he was sick but I had no idea he was so bad. I think they didn’t tell because they were worried I would miss classes and come home (I would have) but it was almost harder knowing that Gizmo was there alone (my mom was too sad to go in the room with him it was just the vet and the nurse, who I’m told were very sweet and stayed with him the whole time). I just couldn’t shake the feeling that he would think I had abandoned him and wasn’t there when he needed me.
However a few days later I went to the local animal shelter to make a donation in Gizmo’s name and while I was there I saw this little brown matted dog shaking near the doors of his cage, I know it sounds crazy but he had Gizmo’s eyes, they said he was a poodle mix and was 6 years old, but I knew that somehow Gizmo was
there telling me to rescue this dog.
I had no intention of getting another dog at all, it was just too sad but the next thing I knew Louie and I were coming home. It wasn’t until I took him to the vet that I realized that it was Gizmo’s eyes that I saw in this dog, he had come to the shelt the day after Gizmo died and he was only 2 years old, not 6, and he was a poodle mix, a poodle/yorkie mix. I truly think there is a part of Gizmo in Louie, and maybe Gizmo just did what he had to do to find his way back to me.
To my forever friend,
| Gizmo Tory Brown |
| Lauren |